SUDDEN DEBT

VENTURE Credit Union (VCU) is willing to levy if a $23 million loan payment owed by TT Football Association (TTFA) president David John-Williams is not paid off.

On October 31, co-operative development commissioner Andrea McKenna awarded judgment for $23,540,269 to VCU.

The judgment was handed down on Monday – the same day as the official opening of the Home of Football in Balmain, Couva.

A VCU official told Newsday the case existed even before he was employed at the credit union, but said the institution treated all members equally.

“We haven’t singled out any particular person at this time of the year because a judgment doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years to happen. It just happened at the wrong time where the gentleman is a prominent person.

“It was a fair process and we would do that to recover members’ funds from any person who is delinquent or bad.

“The bottom line is, if you took money and you can’t pay it back, the credit union must recover that money. It is due to the members.”

On November 7, John-Williams’ name appeared in a newspaper notice on a debt-recovery issue. The notice said the credit union was seeking information on his whereabouts. Asked for a comment that day, he had told Newsday, “Politics. (They) can’t find me, what utter rubbish.”

John-Williams also denied the matter stemmed from the Home of Football project.

The VCU official denied the claim of political influence.

“Venture is not a political organisation. Venture has been around for about 60 years and we stand firm with certain professional behaviours. We are not aligned to any political party or political group.

“We support government institutions, we support non-government institutions, and we have been doing that for several years.”

The official said neither the purpose nor the date of the loan could be disclosed as that was confidential, but added such situations were “a part of lending.”

He said, “It’s a lot of money – Venture is not a small institution. If you check our financials back in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and last year – solid profitability.

The official said hypothetically, VCU would levy if John-Williams refused to pay.

“The meaning of taking someone to court is that you would like to recover your funds – not necessarily levy or take their personal belongings – but the bottom line is the company would like to get back its money.”

John-Williams will be aiming to retain his presidency in the TTFA elections on November 24. His competitors are William Wallace, Secondary Schools Football president, and Richard Ferguson, owner of local club Terminix La Horquetta Rangers.

After the news of his debt broke on Wednesday, many began to question if the matter affected the TTFA boss’ eligibility to retain leadership, with reference to FIFA sanctions.

He was highly endorsed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino at the Home of Football opening ceremony.

According to FIFA’s code of ethics, “Persons bound by this code must refrain from any activity or behaviour, or any attempted activity or behaviour, that might give rise to suspicion of improper conduct.”

Violation of this can lead to a fine of up to CHF$10,000 (Swiss currency – TT$68,000) and a ban on football-related activities for up to two years.

Newsday attempted to contact John-Williams for a comment but all calls went unanswered.