Editorial: Business And Judiciary: Chief Justice Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay In Conflict Of Interest?
ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2025, while the Supreme Court was in session for its October term of court, officers of the Labor Court, under the command of Judge Joseph B. Kollie, ordered the closure and locking of the Colony Hotel, including other businesses on the Hotel complex over a writ of execution in a case involving the former owner of the Palm Spring Hotel, Najib Kamand, versus a Chinse national, Ding Shu Jun, alias Nancy Chinese Lady.
IN JUNE 2025, Colony Incorporated filed a Writ of Mandamus to the Supreme Court. Associate Justice Clinton-Johnson, who is also the wife of the plaintiff’s most recent Counsel, Cllr. Lavala K. Johnson, heard the case and ordered that Colony’s Bill of Information be heard and that Judge Jones rule according to the law.
AFTER HEARING THE case and reviewing the documents, including the legal dissolution of the Palm Spring lease six months before Colony Incorporated acquired the property, Judge James E. Jones ruled that Colony Hotel is a separate business which did not acquire Palm Spring’s assets, and should not be responsible for those debts. He also ordered the hotel to operate unencumbered and commanded the court and sheriff to stop any enforcement actions against Colony Hotel related to those debts involving Najib Kamand and Ding Shu Jun, alias Nancy Chinese Lady.
THE DISPUTE CENTERS on a US$1.3 million debt judgment award to Chinese Lady Nancy, in which the court documents are linked to Palm Spring but not connected to Colony Hotel. The court records further show that although Palm Spring had paid almost US$200,000 towards the debt to the courts, with a commitment to pay US$10,000 per month, Chinese Lady Nancy, through her alleged boyfriend, “Chinese Jack”, a close friend of Chief Justice Gbeisay, had complained to the court that the money is too small. They allegedly asked the courts to collect US$100,000 a month on their behalf, or the court close Colony. When the Debt Court verdict was rendered releasing Colony Hotel from all responsibilities to the debt, neither Chinese Lady Nancy nor her alleged boyfriend “Chinese Jack”, filed either an appeal or a Bill of Information asking the Supreme Court to review or overturn Debt Court Judge Jones’ decision. Ironically, the only way to obtain the Supreme Court review in a civil case is for an aggrieved party to file an appeal or bill of information. The Plaintiff in this case did not file any such document.
TENSION AROSE WHEN Chief Justice Gbeisay allegedly dismissed Judge James Jones from the case and instructed the presiding judge of the National Labor Court, His Honor James B. Kollie, to shut down Colony Hotel within 48 hours unless US$156,000 is paid. There is no record showing that the Chief Justice appointed Judge Kollie as an ad-hoc Debt Court judge to enforce the judgment, and all the court documents from Judge Kollie are captioned in the Labor Court.
IT WAS NOTED that Chief Justice Gbeisay’s mandate to Judge Kollie was not signed by the Clerk of the Supreme Court, but rather by his “Chief of Staff”. Another legal practitioner even confirmed that all orders emanating from the Supreme Court are signed by the Clerk of the Supreme Court, not by the judge’s administrative assistant. The action by the Chief Justice’s administrative assistant/Chief of Staff is therefore legally deficient. It means that the official records of the Court may not include the Chief Justice’s mandate.
UNCONFIRMED REPORT CIRCULATING in the courts recounts that when Chief Justice Gbeisay was an Associate Justice, he allegedly suppressed Judge James Jones from hearing Colony Hotel’s Bill of Information, which is the legal document claiming Colony Hotel is separate from Palm Spring’s debts. Chinese Lady Nancy is said to be a part of a group of Chinese nationals who enjoy protection from parts of the Judiciary.