A politician is seeking to clear his name following the publication of a newspaper report that he was being sued by a member of his 2013 election campaign team.
Gregory Nicholls, who is an attorney-at-law, is facing a civil case brought by Nicholas Alleyne of Callender’s Cresent, Christ Church, who has claimed that he is owed $9,500 of a total $15,000 that he loaned to the Barbados Labour Party St Michael North West contender.
However, Nicholls, who was unsuccessful in his bid to take the seat from Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler, told Barbados TODAY that as far as he was concerned, the money in question was a campaign donation.
Gregory Nicholls
“I took it as a contribution from a friend, a supporter or a well wisher. Circumstances subsequently have changed and therefore I am now faced with a situation where he is making a claim that the monies were loaned to me,” he insisted.
“I never negotiated a loan of $15,000 with . . . Nicholas Alleyne . . . I can state unequivocally that I did not negotiate anything with the man, I did not ask to borrow any money, neither did I receive the money. While I accept that there were persons working in my campaign, I did not authorize anyone to negotiate a loan and therefore my lawyers will be dealing with the matter in court when it arises. If it is adjudged that I am required to repay the funds, I will do so, but if not I would hope that the matter would end there,” Nicholls added.
Responding to the report in another section of the Press which indicated that he had made three payments to Alleyne totalling $5,500, the former senator acknowledged that he did give money to Alleyne, but said that was because he had asked for assistance as he was unemployed at the time.
“I also want to state that at a later date I was presented with a promissory note and I refused to execute the promissory note towards the balance because, if I did, that would mean that I would have consummated a transaction that, in essence, was not within my contemplation or not within my knowledge,” Nicholls argued.
“I know we were all expecting a BLP victory and we were working in St Michael North West tirelessly towards that end. Therefore, if his expectations have not been met, that is what I have to deal with and I will say so in court.”