The social network site Facebook has shuttered a web page on which a person pretending to be former Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica (BNS) boss William ‘Bill’ Clarke posted comments attacking the Observer’s reports on Clarke’s legal battle with the Canada-based bank.

The page, complete with several pictures of Clarke, was shut down on Friday afternoon, less than an hour after the Observer brought it to the attention of Clarke and his attorney, Keith Bishop, who contacted the police.

Detectives from the constabulary’s Cyber Crime Investigation and Research Unit on Friday sent two e-mails to the Facebook operators who then pulled the plug on the web page.

“I don’t know what a Facebook is. I have never signed up for any of these things in my life. The only thing I have is a Hotmail address,” Clarke said when contacted by the Observer Friday.

“This is noting but an individual who is trying to sully my name further. I would like you to say that I have disassociated myself from this. It’s ridiculous, really,” Clarke added.

The Observer first noticed the postings on Wednesday, but the impostor had been ranting over the articles since June 30, according to Cyber Crime Detective Sergeant Patrick Linton, who said that his unit was in the process of ascertaining the identity of the fake Bill Clarke.

“All my moves are right. It’s just the media who interpret them wrong and out of proportion. Just take a look at what they are saying. How could I as a successful banker for over 40 years be out of a job and cannot pay my bills,” said one of the postings last Wednesday in reference to an Observer story about Clarke’s financial plight, which highlighted his affidavit to the appellate court.

“The media is lying. Those are not my original statements,” said another on Tuesday in reference to the story headlined, ‘I can’t get a job, says Bill Clarke’, which the fake Bill Clarke styled as “abject foolishness”, “rubbish” and “rumours”.

In the postings, which generated some comments, the impostor spelt the former Nova Scotia boss’ surname incorrectly, leaving off the ‘e’.

The images on the page, one of which showed Clarke dancing with a Caucasian woman, appeared to be pictures that were already in the public domain. Another photo features Clarke in a Polo shirt with the caption, ‘chilling like a villain’.

Clarke, who retired from BNS on November 1 last year after more than 40 years of service, is currently going through a bitter legal battle with the bank over his retirement package.

Clarke is due back in the Court of Appeal today where he is challenging a Supreme Court decision not to send his impasse over the retirement package to arbitration.