FIVE years after the High Court ordered former Clico Investment Bank (CIB) chairman Andre Monteil and others to repay a staggering $78 million—plus tens of millions more in interest and costs—the Court of Appeal has overturned the ruling.

In a unanimous decision delivered on Tuesday, the appellate court set aside the findings made by Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams in March 2021, bringing to an end one of the most high-profile civil cases to emerge from the CL Financial collapse.

Justice James Aboud, with Justices Prakash Moosai and Gillian Lucky concurring, ruled that the trial judge was “plainly wrong” in her assessment of the evidence and in concluding that Monteil and former CIB chief executive Richard Trotman acted dishonestly or in breach of their fiduciary duties.