A government MP has been sued for a half-million dollars over an alleged unpaid loan.

A writ lodged with the Supreme Court named Grant Forbes as the plaintiff and Scott Simmons, a Progressive Labour Party backbencher, as the defendant.

The writ, from September 2019, claimed that Mr Simmons, the MP for Southampton West, was loaned $200,000 by Mr Forbes in April 2014.

It said Mr Simmons agreed to pay back the loan over a five-year term at $50,000 interest a year.

The writ added that, if the loan was not repaid by a deadline of April 3 last year, Mr Simmons had agreed to hand over a stake in his company Global Marine Services (Bermuda) Ltd.

But the writ said that Mr Simmons had not repaid the $200,000 plus interest of $300,000 to cover five and a half years to last September or given Mr Forbes “an equitable interest in the said company”.

Mr Simmons declined to comment on the case last night and Mr Forbes could not be contacted.

However Richard Horseman, the lawyer for Wakefield Quin, the law firm acting for Mr Forbes, confirmed last night that the parties were in settlement discussions and “we anticipate the matter will be settled very shortly”.

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