Renrick Nickie, executive manager of marketing operations and information systems at the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC), was yesterday dismissed from his post, according to reports reaching Newsday late yesterday. The reports stated that the Board sent Nickie a letter, dated December 19, which met him on his return to Trinidad from the US, stating that his position at the company had been terminated with immediate effect. The letter, sources stated, informed Nickie that he had committed acts of "gross misconduct" that "breached the ethics of the UTC." It said that the Board had reviewed his employment record and had arrived at the conclusion that he was "negligent" and refused to comply with instructions given by former chairman, Hubert Alleyne.

The Board, the letter continued, had no other alternative but to terminate his post. When Newsday contacted Nickie, he neither confirmed nor denied this and instead said "I am not denying it, but you should speak to the UTC." Nickie is still on his 79-day leave of absence from the company. Attempts to reach other board members for confirmation, including executive director, Clarry Benn, proved futile. An unnamed source stated that this could very well be true as "it had been in the works for some time." The source maintained that the Board had been negotiating severance packages with Nickie for a number of weeks. Another source stated that Nickie’s lawyers had met with UTC’s lawyers. On October 8, Nickie, who was tipped to replace Benn as executive director when Benn’s term in office expires in January, was sent on a 79-day leave by the UTC Board of directors after he allegedly broke the company’s gag-order by doing an interview with a daily newspaper on the possible merger with FCB.