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Basseterre, St. Kitts — May 5, 2025
The 74th birthday of revered Caribbean banker James Simpson on Sunday, May 4th, 2025, came not with the warmth of family, cake, and a customary church blessing—but behind the cold, locked doors of His Majesty’s Prison in Basseterre.

Simpson, whose decorated résumé spans decades of exemplary service at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank, the Nevis Financial Services Department, and currently as Acting CEO of Bank of Nevis International Ltd (BONI), was remanded to prison for seven days on Friday, May 2nd in a case that his legal team has decried as an “egregious miscarriage of justice.”

The committal stems from a March 5th, 2025 court order requiring BONI to pay US$3 million into Court by March 12th. However, Simpson’s name—along with BONI’s Chief Operations Officer, who has been on medical leave since January—was only added to the Order shortly before the deadline, with no assessment of their personal involvement or the company’s financial logistics.

In fact, Simpson was served with the penal notice at 2:34 p.m. on the very day the deadline expired—March 12th, a Wednesday—after commercial banks had already closed. His attorneys argue it was factually and legally impossible for him to act on the notice in time, much less affect a transaction of such magnitude, especially one dependent on cross-border banking systems.

The appeal, filed with urgency on Tuesday, May 6th after the long holiday weekend, has already received acknowledgment from the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal. In a rare move signaling the seriousness of the legal questions raised, the court has agreed to an expedited hearing, set for May 19th, 2025 in St. Lucia.

Importantly, there has been no judicial finding that Simpson acted improperly. The only evidence presented against him is that he is a Director of BONI and was aware of the Order—albeit at a point when compliance was no longer physically possible.

“This case represents a deeply troubling precedent,” said one of Simpson’s attorneys. “You cannot imprison a man for a debt not his own, especially when no court has found that he had the means or ability to comply and willfully refused. This is not just about James Simpson—this is about due process and the integrity of the legal system.”

Simpson’s four adult children were unable to celebrate their father’s milestone. His congregation, too, was left stunned as their beloved churchman missed his traditional birthday blessing.

As the Court of Appeal prepares to weigh in, many across the twin-island Federation are asking: how could this happen to a man so widely respected, so deeply rooted in integrity and service?

The answer, and perhaps justice, may come on May 19th.