First Point International hit for ignoring court judgment
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• by Melanie Hammond The finance arm of First Point International, the company which promised but failed to provide US "green card" work permits for truck drivers, has been issued with a "garnishee order" after It ignored a county court judgment to reimburse one of its former clients.
Nuneaton County Court issued the order after First Point Finance failed to comply with a CCJ to repay Vernon Phillips £1,980 and £269 interest.
An order of this type is designed to make the company's bank freeze the specified amount for payment to the court. The court then passes this money to the claimant. But National Westminster bank has notified Phillips that there were no funds available in the First Point Finance bank account at the time of presentation so the garnishee order has been automatically dismissed.
Phillips had given up waiting for his green card after 18 months and very little action from First Point.
He had been threatened with legal action by FPF for failing to keep up payments on his finance agreement, and from First Point International for libel. The Department of Trade and Industry has also been granted an order prohibiting First Point Finance from "acting as an employment agency". While this is unlikely to have much impact on FPF's operations, it is a recognition that the finance company was intertwined with First Point International.
John Gillespie, former First Point International finance controller, and director of new relocation company Visaplus, which operates from First Point's former premises, claims that a US attorney is still assessing whether there is any hope for First Point's former truck driver clients.
The DTI reports the American Embassy has confirmed that no green cards will be issued to any of First Point International's clients on the truck drivers' programme.