The following is an open letter published to Adam Stewart by Robert ‘Bobby’ Stewart, Cheryl Hamersmith-Stewart, Sabrina Stewart, Gordon J. Stewart and Kelly Stewart to Adam Stewart dated December 10, 2024

“Dear Adam,

“We are aware of your paid advertisement campaign onslaught issued in the Jamaican Observer (of which you are the executive chairman and director) on behalf of you, Jaime Stewart, and Brian Jardim regarding your father, Gordon “Butch” Stewart’s, wishes for his estate, which is being co-ordinated by your Jamaican attorney, Mr Conrad George.

“We are deeply disappointed that you have chosen to submit Butch’s family—our family—to this ‘trial by media’. We do not respond publicly lightly nor for our own benefit. However, we feel the need to respond to the serious and false allegations raised in your statement in order to protect those whom you are now unfairly targeting in your ongoing quest to defy and overturn your father’s wishes.

“Your father passed away in January 2021. On his death, he left detailed wishes as to how his estate and the trusts he had founded ought to be dealt with. As you well know, those wishes are clearly set out in Butch’s Last Will and Testament and in letters signed by Butch. They were also clearly communicated to Butch’s trusted attorney and friend, Mr Trevor Patterson.

“What Butch wanted was for family members to receive allotted shares in the businesses he so successfully founded, and for there to be a family-run board of directors with representation from all sides of the family. The share that Butch wanted you to receive was 16.67%. Not 100%.

“When a beloved family member dies, the tradition in Jamaica is that loved ones will come together to fulfil his last wishes. But you have set your face against Butch’s wishes, and have set out on a campaign to overturn them. You appear to want more than Butch gave you, and you seem willing to stop at nothing to get it, even if it wounds the people whom Butch most trusted and relied on during his lifetime.

“By Mr George’s statement, you have accused Mr Trevor Patterson, one of the most highly respected attorneys in Jamaica and Butch’s own trusted personal attorney of nearly 20 years, of falsifying trust documents and seeking to knowingly deceive the trustee of that trust regarding the same, supported by evidence from “specialist digital forensics experts”.

“Such allegations are entirely unfounded and have (prior to your statement being made) already been roundly refuted by Mr Patterson, in his statement issued on December 3 2024. We unreservedly and wholeheartedly believe Mr Patterson’s account that:

1. Before the document was sent to the Guernsey trustee, Mr Patterson was party to a conversation with the Guernsey trustee to explain Butch’s wishes and to tell them of the proposed amendments.
2. Mr Patterson accordingly sent the amended document to the Guernsey trustee, reflecting that conversation and Butch’s wishes.
3. The ‘forensic evidence’ has revealed nothing which was not already known and apparent.

“Its sole purpose has been to fuel your PR campaign to discredit Trevor Patterson. The findings of the forensic evidence report are plainly and entirely irrelevant. The report claims to “discover” things that are not denied by Trevor Patterson and are entirely supportive of Trevor’s explanation. Despite your desperate attempts, there is no smoke, and there is certainly no fire. Butch’s wishes are clear and precise.

“The simple truth is that Mr Patterson stands to gain nothing from what you falsely accuse him of. This demonstrates your real motive. Mr Patterson is but the latest target in a line of concerted attacks against Butch’s friends, employees, and long-time trusted counsellors, including Dmitri Singh, Paul Soutter, and Nicholas Feanny. Those individuals have done you no ill other than having pledged to uphold your father’s true will and wishes. It is because they are willing to stand up for the truth that you are now targeting them in this brazen fashion.

“In your quest to overturn your father’s wishes and obtain control for yourself, you continue to resist the proper administration of Butch’s estate including (but not exhaustively):

1. Seeking to replace the current Executors of Butch’s estate with those handpicked by yourself, notwithstanding that this undermines the powers of appointment in Butch’s will;
2. Appointing yourself Executive Chairman of Gorstew Limited and taking control of the various related companies, to the exclusion of the Executors and other family beneficiaries, against your father’s express wishes;
3. Failing to provide the Executors with the necessary financial information required in order to progress the administration of the estate; and
4. Resisting an independent audit of certain companies of which you have seized control, despite the Executors’ legitimate concerns and requirements for a degree of financial transparency.

“Those actions have frustrated the Executors’ efforts to settle the estate and distribute the assets disproportionately affecting those of your siblings whom you have excluded from the benefit of the companies founded by your father, again against Butch’s express wishes. Your attempts to stymie an independent audit have also slowed, but will not prevent, an independent investigation into your conduct as the Executive Chairman of Gorstew Limited and its subsidiaries including ATL following your father’s death. It remains to be seen whether in your quest for control you have also harmed the interests of the loyal employees of the companies, but your resistance to independent scrutiny is a cause for grave concern.

“Meanwhile, an action has had to be brought against you personally for conspiracy to obtain privileged and confidential information from a major Jamaican law firm representing Cheryl Hamersmith-Stewart.

“We the undersigned remain absolutely committed to seeing to it that your father’s wishes are implemented, not defied, and that the businesses he worked so hard to create will flourish for the benefit of all of their stakeholders, not just you.

“It is unfortunate that we have been forced to issue this statement, however, we cannot allow you to impugn the integrity of your father’s closest advisers and friends.

Robert Stewart, Cheryl Hamersmith-Stewart, Sabrina Stewart, Gordon J. Stewart, Kelly Stewart