Michael Lee-Chin, CEO of mutual fund fir AIC Ltd., is at the centre of a major controversy in Trinidad and Tobago over allegations that he bribed a cabinet minister to help secure the purchase of a state-owned bank.

Lee-Chin said yesterday he is stunned by the allegations and he has filed a libel action against the Trinidadian member of Parliament who raised them.

The controversy started last Friday when Gerald Yetming, a former finance minister and opposition MP, told the House of Commons in the Caribbean country that Lee-Chin paid a bribe as part payment for 20 per cent of state-owned First Citizens Bank.

The government of Trinidad is considering a plan to privatize the bank along with a state-owned mutual fund company called Unit Trust Co.

“There is now a plan to have 20% of First Citizens Bank sold to Mr. Lee-Chin and his AIC group,” Yetming told Parliament. “My information is that a certain sum of money has been paid to a minister of government. The people giving that information are speculating it’s a bribe.”

Yetming’s comments sparked a political firestorm.

The suit brought by Lee-Chin has been filed in Ontario, but not Trinidad. Lee-Chin said that is because Canada does not give blanket protection to parliamentarians. He said the basis for the claim is that Yetming has caused damage to his reputation.