Scholar to know on Oct 2 if he has to repay $3M

Wellington, who in 2016 was ordered to repay the funds when he did not attend the start of the civil trial brought against him by the Office of the Attorney General, got another chance to defend himself when the Court of Appeal sent his case back to Justice Nadia Kangaloo for determination.

At the close of oral submissions, the judge yesterday set October 2 for the date of her decision.

Kangaloo had initially declined to grant an adjournment to Wellington’s lawyer and entered judgment against him.

After the case went back to her, Wellington, in testimony in January, insisted that he fulfilled his contractual agreement under the National Scholarship Programme.

Wellington, who moved to Australia, claimed in his testimony before Kangaloo at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain that after writing his final exams at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in May 2009, he wrote to the Ministry of Public Administration which managed the Government scholarship programme at the time.

He said he received no response and, after several months, decided to contact the ministry via telephone. Wellington said he was told he could not be offered a job as he had not immediately returned when he completed his degree.

He said if he had no intention of coming back, he would not now have been incurring $3 million worth of debt.

The State, which filed the action against him, alleged that Wellington signed an agreement after being awarded an open scholarship in 2003 to obtain a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) at the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland.

For the five years of his studies, Government paid Wellington’s tuition fees and he was given textbook and personal maintenance allowances. Under the agreement, Wellington, as is the case with other government scholars, was required to repay the Government if he failed to work here for the period of their foreign studies.

Kangaloo had ordered that Wellington repay the $1,734,994.30 expended by the Government on his studies in addition to $1,328,764.64 in interest calculated at the rate of 7.75 percent from the date of his graduation.

The judge had also ordered him to pay legal costs, incurred by the State, of $194,227.98.

The State was represented by attorneys Lesley Ann Lucky Samaroo, Nadine Nabbie and Kendra Mark. Attorneys Ravi Heffes-Doon and Kyle Rudder appeared for Wellington.