It was in March 2017 that Charles O’Sullivan, former managing director of special risks at Besso Limited, was found guilty of three charges of discreditable conduct following proceedings before a Lloyd’s of London enforcement tribunal. He has since been banned.
Now hotels group SuperClubs, which was victimised by O’Sullivan, is going after Besso via the High Court route to the tune of £8 million ($10 million). An Evening Standard report said the legal battle will commence on February 22.
“Charles O’Sullivan operated a fraudulent system… without knowledge or consent of SuperClubs,” the publication quoted Bloody Bay Hotel – located in Jamaica – director Paul Vincent as saying in a High Court submission.
“Brokerage was wrongfully and fraudulently received and retained… Broadly speaking, this was achieved by ‘grossing up’ or by taking undisclosed commission from underwriters (‘concealed brokerage’), or by similar means.”
The allegation is that “secret profit” went to Besso, which has slammed the lawsuit as meritless.
In 2011 O’Sullivan made the switch to Bennett Gould & Partners, another Lloyd’s broker, where he was sacked the following year for gross misconduct.
Eventually declared unfit and unsuitable, he saw the permanent revocation of his right to transact insurance business at Lloyd’s as well as his permission to enter the underwriting room and parts of the Society’s premises. Charges related to concealment of brokerage and dishonest deception to secure payment.
