‘Magic mushrooms’ defendant in unlicensed crypto venture
By NEIL HARTNELL
A co-defendant in the much-publicised “magic mushrooms” case has also been operating an unlicensed crypto currency business from The Bahamas, Tribune Business can reveal.
Jan Biere, a Dutch national, who did not appear alongside his wife when she pled not guilty to dangerous drugs charges last week, appears to be behind a crypto currency called Aethercoin according to research conducted by this newspaper.
However, Christina Rolle, the Securities Commission’s executive director, confirmed that neither Aethercoin nor Mr Biere are licensed or registered with the regulator to conduct crypto and digital assets business from this jurisdiction as required by law under the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act.
“It’s not a licensee, that’s all I can say about it. It’s not licensed by us,” Ms
BAHAMIAN
By NEIL HARTNELL
A BAHAMIAN engineer is “over the moon” that the planning authorities have rejected an appeal by two of New Providence’s largest developers that sought to halt his $20m project.
Nick Dean, principal of Integrated Building Services (IBS), told Tribune Business he can now proceed with the “dream of my father” by developing a 30-unit residential
Rolle told Tribune Business, declining to comment further. But well-placed sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Mr Biere and Aethercoin are “on the radar” of the Securities Commission, which has been given strengthened enforcement powers via the recent passage into law of an enhanced DARE Act.
“The Securities Commission is investigating and looking into it,” they said. “They’re also looking into connections to other matters of concern. The police are not involved at this point but a complaint will likely be filed with them shortly.”
Tribune Business research uncovered strong connections and links between Aethercoin and the so-called ‘magic
mushrooms’ venture, named Psilocybin Therapy Bahamas, which was at the root of the charges brought last week against Mr Biere and Elike Hollink, both of whom are understood to have permanent resident status in The Bahamas.
In particular, the same Bahamian cell phone number was listed on both ventures’ websites as their primary contact. Tribune Business subsequently confirmed that the number is Mr Biere’s with his former Bahamian attorney, Philip Lundy, with the duo featuring together in a late 2022 video posted to Aethercoin’s website discussing the FTX implosion and its potential fall-out.
Mr Lundy, who heads Pride Rock Law Chambers, confirmed to Tribune Business that his firm had incorporated a company
for Mr Biere bearing the same name as his crypto currency but said he had left regulatory compliance with the Securities Commission and DARE Act to the Dutch national.
“We did incorporate a company called Aethercoin,” Mr Lundy said. “He did his homework and determined he did not need to do this registration with the Securities Commission. He spoke to them and determined he was not really in The Bahamas. He does his own research and comes to his own decisions.”
Mr Lundy, though, said he has now severed ties with Mr Biere and his wife, Ms Hollink, having “backed out” of representing the former in a case that arose prior to the
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
AUTHORITIES were yesterday said to be moving to seize assets owned by an ex-MP and former Supreme Court judge in a bid to satisfy a multi-million dollar judgment obtained against him.
Well-placed sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Tribune Business that the provost marshall - acting upon a Supreme Court Order - is now seeking to secure real estate, properties and other valuable assets thought to be owned by Elliott Lockhart KC with locks said to have been changed and padlocks put in place.
This newspaper was able to confirm that the Supreme Court has reviewed, approved and signed off on a so-called ‘fieri facias’ application brought on behalf of US investor, Dr Paul Fuchs, by the Callenders & Company law firm.
This is a writ that, once approved by a judge, authorises court officers such as the provost marshall
to seize assets and chattels belonging to persons who have failed to pay Supreme Court judgment awards imposed against them.
“The process has moved to enforce the judgment, and the provost has been engaged to do the enforcement,” one source told this newspaper. Among the assets that could be targeted are Mr Lockhart’s personal residence, with his last known address listed as 67 Ocean Drive, Adelaide Village; his former law firm’s offices at Buen Retiro Road; and other real estate and chattels of value in both New Providence and Exuma, the latter being the constituency he represented in Parliament between 1997 and 2002.
“Signs have been put up, gates have been tied up with padlocks and chains. Properties have been seized and every lock has been changed by a locksmith,” one contact told this newspaper of the provost marshall’s progress to-date. This was not corroborated
community on land the latter originally purchased after New Providence Development Company and Old Fort Company failed to overturn a prior decision that eliminated restrictions on the type of development that can take place.
The Town Planning Committee, using its powers under the Planning and Subdivision Act’s section 25, had earlier backed Mr Dean’s call for it to extinguish restrictive covenants
HARTNELL
BAHA Mar’s original developer would not have spent $500m on preparing for the failed March 2015 opening if he “had known the truth” that its main contractor was about to bust the deadline.
Sarkis Izmirlian and his BML Properties vehicle, in their post-trial filings with the New York State Supreme Court, asserted “there is only one just result” possible from the two-week August hearing
- that China Construction America (CCA) be ordered to pay a minimum $1.623bn as compensation for losses stemming from the project’s failure and their subsequent ouster as developer. With that figure allegedly increasing by $208,356 daily, given the 9 percent interest rate attached, Mr Izmirlian and his company recalled that during the trial he informed Judge Andrew Borrok he would have done “just about everything differently” if the Chinese state-owned contractor had
Grand Bahama Power blasted by all over rising outages
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
CABINET ministers and MPs are asserting that recent electricity outages plaguing Grand Bahama show why the island’s power provider should not be granted its requested 6.3 percent base rate hike.
Grand Bahama Power Company’s generation woes again united opponents from both sides of the political divide with
Ginger Moxey, minister for Grand Bahama, arguing that the frequent supply interruptions have reached an “unacceptable level and require immediate action”. Kwasi Thompson, east Grand Bahama’s MP and a former minister of state for finance, yesterday released an open letter to Grand Bahama’s sole power supplier stating that “this is another reason why the electricity rate should not be increased” via the 6.3 percent base tariff rise currently before the Grand
Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) for a decision on whether to grant approval. The outages yesterday sparked the GBPA, which is battling the Government over the latter’s demand that it pay $357m, and also locked in a dispute over whether itself or the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) should be GB Power’s regulator, to issue a statement of its own attributing the problems to generation units presently out of service for repair.
Grand Bahama residents said that, unlike the rest of The Bahamas, they are not accustomed to such frequent power outages. Speaking to Tribune Business, Ms Bethell a Freeport resident, said her area experienced electricity outages that lasted for hours throughout the entire weekend.
“Everyday this weekend current was off for at least two hours, sometimes up to four hours,” said Ms Bethell. “You know, light in Freeport don’t be like this. We usually have reliable power but these past couple months have been something else, and it’s just getting worse”
Mrs Moxey, in a statement, said residents have become frustrated by the level of service provided by GB Power. “Our residents are justifiably frustrated as the current service continues to fall short of basic expectations,” she said.
“The Grand Bahama Power Company has a responsibility to provide reliable and consistent power to the island. I have communicated these concerns to GB Power, and while l appreciate their efforts to address the situation, I will continue to advocate on behalf of Grand Bahamians to ensure they fulfil their commitment to delivering the service our island deserves.
“It is vital that our power supply keeps pace with the needs of our growing island.” Mr Thompson added that his constituents have experienced multiple outages that have disrupted their lives and “resulted in financial loss”.
“Firstly, we have experienced multiple power outages in our area, some lasting for several hours without any prior notification or explanation,” said Mr Thompson. “These outages have disrupted our daily lives, caused inconvenience and resulted in financial losses.
“Secondly, we have not received satisfactory responses or timely updates regarding these issues. The prolonged delays in addressing these concerns have been extremely
vexing. The quality of service provided by you has been consistently below standards. This is another reason why the electricity rate should not be increased.”
The GBPA, meanwhile, said it met with GB Power executives on Saturday to address the frequent power outages. Ian Rolle, its president, said the meeting gave a clear understanding of the issues currently impacting service and remediation efforts. “We will continue to monitor GB Power’s progress over the next few days and have stressed the need to resolve the issues as quickly as possible,” said Mr. Rolle.
“As utility regulator, we have a responsibility to the residents and businesses of the island to ensure dependability of essential services, including electricity, at fair and reasonable rates. We remain committed to working with the Grand Bahama Power Company to ensure both reliability of service and stability of rates.”
“Reliable power is fundamental to the well-being of our community and the continued success of our island,” he added. “We met with leaders at GB Power’s plant on Saturday to get a clear understanding of the issues currently impacting service reliability and the plan for remediation.
“At that meeting, it was evident that the GB Power team is working with urgency to repair generating units and bring them back into service. We saw that supplemental generating units are now on site, and are assured that they will provide additional power and much-needed stability to the island’s electricity supply by the end of this week.”
Mr Rolle called for improved communication by GB Power so customers can better plan for electricity outages over the coming days. GB Power has said that, despite the 6.3 percent base rate increase, light bills for 75 percent of its customers will either remain unchanged or enjoy a slight decrease due to the hike being offset by reductions in the fuel charge.
Harbour Island residents also experienced power outages over the weekend after one of the primary feeders experiences a “fault” on Friday. According to statements released by Bahamas Power and Light (BPL), technicians executed a “controlled shutdown” to carry out repairs.
“There is a fault on one of our primary feeders in Harbour Island,” said BPL on Friday night. “The crew just executed a controlled shutdown to carry out repairs. Supplies should be restored before midnight.” Those repairs, however, were not completed by midnight and some residents - around 15 - were without electricity overnight.
“Supplies have been restored to most areas. However, there is a faulty transformer that must be replaced,” said BPL subsequently. “The work requires some heavy equipment and cannot be completed until Saturday morning. Unfortunately, a small group of customers (15) will remain without power overnight.” The work in the Barracks Hill area continued on Saturday as technicians replaced the faulty transformer, but BPL soon experienced issues with this. “We sincerely apologise to our customers in Barracks Hill who remain without service,” it added.
“We are working to restore your supply after experiencing some connection challenges with the newly-installed transformer. We are working with an additional crew at the Harbour Island power station to complete a generation connection there and address the connection issues at the same time.
“We will have a controlled shutdown for about one to 1.5 hours starting at 5.45pm. This will impact roughly half the island. A benefit is that we will be adding additional generating capacity to the island.” According to a progress report on Eleuthera released by the Ministry of Energy and Transport, Harbour Island has had two 2.5 MW generators now installed, increasing generation capacity to 11MW.
CCA: Baha Mar fail ‘inevitable’ even if we met open deadline
By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
BAHA Mar’s main contractor is alleging the project’s “insolvency was inevitable” even if the original March 27, 2015, opening deadline was met due to inadequate revenues and inability to access “key money”.
China Construction America (CCA), in legal filings following a two-week New York trial over Sarkis Izmirlian’s fraud and breach of contract claim, asserted that Baha Mar’s financier would have ultimately “foreclosed” on the project in any event because it would have been unable to make the necessary repayments on the $2.45bn debt.
The Chinese stateowned contractor, which Mr Izmirlian blames for the liquidity crisis that triggered the events leading to his ouster as developer because CCA missed the target opening date, also argued that Baha Mar would have required a new $300m credit facility to continue because it was unable to access “key money”.
This represents funds that hotel brands - in Baha Mar’s case, the Grand Hyatt, SLS and Rosewoodpay upfront to secure their place as the resort operator.
However, CCA claimed that Baha Mar had long been in “severe financial trouble” because it had already drawn down $1.98bn from the credit facility provided by main lender, China Export-Import Bank, as at November 2014.
The bank, like CCA, is owned by the Chinese state.
The contractor argued that Mr Izmirlian and Baha Mar fell into “a liquidity crisis of its own making”, while arguing that it had completed 97-98 percent of the Cable Beach mega resort by the March 27, 2015, deadline.
However, it blamed Mr Izmirlian and Baha Mar for the inability to welcome paying guests by that date by accusing them of “bombing their own deliverables”. CCA asserted that it had made “extraordinary efforts” to meet the opening deadline with one of its senior Bahamas-based executives, Tiger Wu, “even sleeping in his office”.
That assertion is likely to be greeted with a mix of disbelief and scepticism by Mr Izmirlian and his team. And, even after the original developer’s ouster, CCS asserted it “ultimately received no more than its original contract sum for completing” Baha Mar despite being paid an extra $700m for this.
Detailing Baha Mar’s road to Chapter 11 bankruptcy from its perspective, CCA alleged: “Unbeknownst to defendants, Baha Mar was facing severe financial trouble. By November 2014, Baha Mar had drawn $1.98bn from the credit facility and had presold only a small fraction of the $570m worth of condominiums that its capital model assumed would be needed to repay the loan.
“Baha Mar also faced over $100m in short-term interest payments starting in April 2015, and owed CCA Bahamas $98 million as reimbursement for sub-contractor payments and costs related to Baha Mar’s hundreds of CCDs.” The latter are construction change directives where original construction plans are altered and changed, which can result in extra costs and time delays.
Following the November 2015 meetings in Beijing, which were intended to resolve all disputes between Baha Mar and CCA, and bring the mega resort to completion on target, CCA alleged: “Between November 2014 and March 2015, CCA Bahamas made extraordinary efforts to meet the March 27 date. Executives worked at all hours on the project, with Mr Wu even sleeping in
his office. “CCA Bahamas increased its total workforce on net by over 1,000 workers. The project workforce peaked at over 6,000 in February 2015. CCA Bahamas facilitated this surge by paying overtime and idle-time premiums, and mandating work on holidays.
“Although CCA Bahamas could not legally force workers to stay in The Bahamas, it used financial incentives to convince 800 workers with expired contracts to remain on the project rather than leave for Chinese New Year, as they previously intended. CCA Bahamas undertook these measures at its own expense, not Baha Mar’s.”
CCA accused Baha Mar of stopping monthly payments for work done in February 2015, with some $76m owed by May 2015. Asserting that it never stopped working despite not being paid, CCA said: “Defendants did not know that, by February 2015, Baha Mar was in a liquidity crisis of its own making.
“On February 9, 2015, China Export-Import Bank told Baha Mar that it could not draw down further on the credit facility, which Baha Mar needed to fund construction, unless Baha Mar put in $70m additional equity. Baha Mar conceded
that it was in a shortfall position when it asked [CCA’s parent] on March 9, 2015, to make a $15m equity shortfall contribution.
“Baha Mar’s request surprised CCA Bahamas because CCA Bahamas had received only about $1.3bn from Baha Mar - well under its $1.9bn contract amount..... Meanwhile, CCA Bahamas completed and turned over 1,600 rooms resort-wide, including almost 900 in the casino hotel, vastly more than the 150-200 Casino Hotel rooms required for March 27,” the Chinese contractor added.
“All agree CCA Bahamas got ‘very, very close’ to achieving the March 27 opening. By then, the resort was 97-98 percent complete. The Bahamian government, however, rejected the fire watch and declined to grant the necessary temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO).
“The resort could not have welcomed paying guests on March 27 anyway because Baha Mar admittedly ‘bombed’ its own deliverables. It did not complete key areas of the fire and life safety systems under its scope of work, which were independent grounds for denying a TCO.
“Baha Mar also failed to complete things it deemed
‘mission-critical’ to opening, including the nightclub, restaurants and spa, and failed to obtain the certificate of suitability needed to open the casino.” As a result, CCA alleged: “Even assuming a March 27 opening, Baha Mar’s insolvency was inevitable.
“Plaintiff would not have gotten the key money by March 27 because Baha Mar had not secured from China Export-Import Bank the subordination, non-disturbance, and attornment agreements (SNDAs) the hotels required. Key money would not have covered Baha Mar’s underfunding anyway. As of June 12, 2015, Baha Mar needed a new $300m credit facility to continue the project.
“Baha Mar’s anticipated revenues after opening would not have been enough to avoid insolvency. Baha Mar’s chief financial officer testified Baha Mar would have ‘run a loss for the first one to two years’, and per plaintiff’s own expert’s optimistic outlook, Baha Mar would have operated at a deficit for five years starting in 2017.
“Accordingly, Baha Mar failure to meet its payment obligations under the the China Export-Import Bank loan would have triggered a default, allowing the bank to foreclose.”
Former MP and judge facing assets seizure
FROM PAGE B1
by other sources, but Dr Fuchs told Tribune Business he was aware that his attorneys had planned to enforce the judgment via the Supreme Court and provost marshall. He revealed he is now “hoping justice is done and crossing my fingers that I can be made whole” over the $3.033m allegedly owed to him by Mr Lockhart.
“That’s what was explained to me about what the plan was, and that’s the most recent update from Callenders,” Dr Fuchs confirmed of the ‘fieri facias’ application. “It’s in the provost marshall’s hands, and the provost marshall is doing his job. I’m appreciative that he’s doing his job, and I have to keep confidence in the system and that justice will be done.
“That was the plan; I don’t know how it’s being done. My understanding was that the plan was to get a writ of ‘fieri facias’ and get the provost marshall to seize everything, and that he be appointed to sell the assets and use those proceeds to satisfy the judgment. My understanding is that they’re moving forward on that and the provost marshall is out.
“That’s been the strategy all along; to find as many assets he has, any valuable properties or any type of assets he has, and have the provost marshall appointed so that he can turn around and sell it. It sure has taken a long time, but it is what it is. It seems like they’re moving in the right direction. We’re crossing our fingers and hoping justice is done, and we can be made whole.”
That $3.033m represents the sum paid to Mr Lockhart over a real estate transaction involving an Exuma-based property. When the deal fell through, Dr Fuchs asked the exjudge to return the funds, which should have been held in escrow in his law firm’s client account, but the latter allegedly failed to do so.
Following an October 11, 2023, hearing, the Supreme Court ordered that Mr Lockhart and Lockhart & Co were “jointly and severally liable” to return the $3.033m. Interest was to be added at an annual rate of 3 percent from September 8 last year to yesterday and, from hereon, the rate increases to 6.25 percent per annum until full payment.
Mr Lockhart’s current whereabouts are unknown
although he is thought unlikely to still be in The Bahamas. Back in June 2024, he was the subject of an Interpol ‘red notice’, which is a worldwide alert issued to all law enforcement authorities, asking them to help locate, and provisionally arrest, the former MP and ex-Supreme Court judge who was once chairman of Nassau Flight Services, the Gaming Board and the Police Inspectorate.
Prior to the Interpol action, the Royal Bahamas Police Force in early 2024 had issued a ‘wanted poster’ for Mr Lockhart after Dr Fuchs lodged a criminal complaint against him. The Interpol action also revealed that other aggrieved investors were making similar allegations to those asserted by Dr Fuchs.
Daniel Clay Smith Jnr was revealed to have made a separate but similar complaint to the police force’s Financial Crimes Investigation Branch on August 18, 2023. He alleged that, between May 2022 and November 2022, he paid some $3.205m to Mr Lockhart and his law firm to assist with Crown Land on Staniel Cay, Exuma, that he wanted to convert to commercial use. “In addition, some of the funds were to
assist in applying to The Bahamas’ Immigration Department for citizenship for Mr. Smith and his family,” the Interpol alert alleged. “By November 2022, nothing had materialised
and Mr Smith requested his monies to be returned..... The funds have not been received to date.”
Sarkis ‘I’d have saved’
if CCA told truth
March 27, 2017, opening deadline.
been honest that “the deadline was in jeopardy”.
But CCA, in its own posttrial briefing submitted to the court, argued it should be awarded $248.2m in damages over its counterclaims that Mr Izmirlian breached the two sides’ investors agreement by failing to give access to the Baha Mar’s books and not gaining its permission for the ultimately-doomed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing (see other article on Page 3B).
The Chinese contractor also alleged it was unaware Baha Mar faced “severe financial trouble” prior to November 2014, alleging that Mr Izmirlian and the project were “in a liquidity crisis of their own making”, and that “insolvency was inevitable” because the developer had “admittedly ‘bombed’ its own deliverables” required to meet the
However, Mr Izmirlian and BML Properties countered that they would have done everything possible to conserve cash, and not ramped up operational preparations, if CCA had been straight about the likelihood the resort would not receive its temporary occupancy certificate (TCO) in time and the opening date would be missed.
“If BML Properties had known the truth it would have done ‘just about everything differently’: ‘Conserved cash’ - about $500m; not started marketing, hiring, training; removed work from CCA; and, possibly, filed suit earlier,” Mr Izmirlian and his corporate vehicle asserted.
“BML Properties, as Baha Mar’s day-to-day manager,directed Baha Mar to act in reliance upon CCA’s representations
that it would meet the deadline by opening reservations; placing ads; hiring and training employees; scheduling entertainment; bringing in $4m-plus for the casino; obtaining equipment; loading mini-bars; and directing third-party operators to prepare to open.
“CCA argued that BML Properties relied unreasonably, but every witness who was asked believed that the project could be open by March 27. It is customary to rely on the construction manager regarding scheduling, manpower and life and fire safety. BML Properties did. CCA was responsible to inform Baha Mar if the deadline was in jeopardy. CCA did not.”
As a result of missing the March 27 target, Mr Izmirlian testified at trial:
“We had to contact every single person that was coming on March 27. We had to reimburse them, not
only for what they had paid us but their airfare. We had to tell the world that Baha Mar was not going to be open.....
“We had staff we were still paying. We had our power bills we had to pay. You know, think about having hired thousands of people who open thousands of rooms and now we’re at the end of June. So, basically three months later. Bills add up.”
David Bones, the specialist relied upon by Mr Izmirlian to determine the extent of his losses and damage, added: “The actual world is, as Mr Izmirlian testified, [they] had to spend $330m leading up to the opening, had no revenue coming in, had 2,400 employees burning at a payroll of between $5 and $7m a month with no cash flow coming in which caused the credit facility and the funds available to dry up very quickly.”
Baha Mar’s original developer added that CCA refused to restart construction and provide a new completion date while using the missed opening as leverage to demand payments it was not due. Given this situation, Mr Izmirlian said any new financing provided by himself would be akin to “throwing money into a black hole”, and thus Baha Mar headed for its liquidity crunch and Chapter 11 filing.
“After CCA missed the deadline, it continued attempting to force Baha Mar to pay undue money, refusing to provide a completion date,” Mr Izmirlian and BML Properties alleged. “CCA ‘reduc[ed] numbers and resources’ and work halted. [Tiger] Wu admitted before government officials that CCA ‘delayed works on purpose’.
“BML Properties tried to secure funding. CCA demanded more money while refusing to restart construction. Additional contributions from BML Properties would have been ‘“throwing money into a black hole’. Thus the project continued spending money without relief from, for example, key money, guests or condo sales, and plunged deeper into liquidity crisis, making bankruptcy inevitable.”
Summing up, they argued: “Two decades after Sarkis Izmirlian conceived of Baha Mar, BML Properties got its day in court. The evidence overwhelmingly confirmed that CCA defrauded BML Properties, breached their investors agreement by acting against ‘the best interests’ of the project and caused BML Properties to lose its entire $845m investment.
“CCA’s top executives took the stand but neither rebutted BML Properties’ veil-piercing case nor explained their interference with China Export-Import Bank or improper payments to the son of a Bahamian government official.
“Their testimony boiled down to the incredible claim that the March 27, 2015, deadline was not ‘firm’ and that CCA tried its best, notwithstanding work stoppages, diversion of resources and obfuscation. On this record, there is only one just result: The court should enter judgment against all defendants
for $845m plus interest to compensate BML Properties for its loss.” That interest currently stands at $778.432m.
The Government official referred to is Sir Baltron Bethel, ex-prime minister Perry Christie’s senior policy adviser, who at the time was one of the administration’s point persons charged with handling the Baha Mar dispute. Tribune Business revealed in 2022 how CCA had paid $2.4m to Notarc Management Group, an entity headed by Sir Baltron’s son, Leslie, when the Baha Mar controversy was at its peak.
Both Sir Baltron and his son denied to this newspaper that CCA’s payments to Notarc Management Group influenced the former’s stance towards the dispute and its participants, or his advice to the Government and its actions, after Mr Izmirlian filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in summer 2015.
Sir Baltron said he had acted “with complete integrity and objectivity” on the Government’s behalf in helping to resolve the Baha Mar controversy, and there was no connection or interaction between himself and Notarc “at that time”. Leslie Bethel, meanwhile, asserted that claims of anything untoward over the $2.4m payments were “political mischief”, and that they were “unrelated” to anything to do with Baha Mar. CCA and its attorneys, too, denied that the $2.4m payments represented “a bribe or conspiracy” to influence the then-government.
John Burlingame, the US lawyer for CCA Bahamas and its affiliates, repeatedly told the New York State Supreme Court during a May 2023 hearing there was “no evidence” to back the “very, very serious” allegations.
However, Mr Izmirlian and his team have been unwilling to let the matter drop.
In last week’s legal filings they alleged: “CCA secretly paid Notarc (run by a Bahamian official’s son) for years, and asked Leslie Bethel to intervene with his father when Bahamian politics did not go CCA’s way. The same month Sir Baltron Bethel asked CCA how it wanted negotiations to proceed, CCA paid Notarc nearly $100,000.”
SHAREHOLDERS
The Board of Directors of Bahamas Waste Limited has declared a Dividend for Ordinary Shares, to all shareholders of record as of September 20th, 2024, of $0.16 cents per share
The payment will be made on October 2nd, 2024, through Bahamas Central Securities Depository Limited, the Registrar & Transfer Agent
Robert V. Lotmore Corporate Secretary
Bahamian ‘over the moon’ at beating top developers
FROM PAGE B1
imposed by Old Fort Company when it sold a three-acre parcel - located between Charlotteville and Old Fort Bay - to his father some 26 years ago in 1998. These limited the site’s development to two private residential dwellings of “no more than 3,000 square feet each” which, if not removed, would have blocked Mr Dean’s ambitions to develop the 30-unit Azumi community and do his part to help ease New Providence’s housing shortage. Site plan approval, as well as rezoning from single family to multi-family, was also approved despite Old Fort Company’s opposition.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, New Providence Development Company, the island’s largest private land owner, and its Old Fort affiliate, which developed the Old Fort Bay community, jointly appealed against the covenant extinguishing and other approvals to the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board, which is chaired by attorney Dawson Malone.
However, the Board in an August 19, 2024, ruling rejected the appeal in its entirety apart from clarifying that the site plan approval is “preliminary” in nature. Pointing out that Azumi’s potential neighbours and adjacent landowners had not objected to the rezoning or covenants’ removal, the Board found that the proposed land use was a good fit with other developments taking place in western New Providence.
It vowed “to support the rezoning of the parcel from single family to multi-family, it being the Board’s view that such rezoning would be in keeping with the recent multi-family development of the surrounding area and the fundamental issue of the lack of developable real property in New Providence”.
An elated Mr Dean told this newspaper that he hoped the Appeal Board’s ruling will bring the regulatory process to an end
as the challenge by New Providence Development Company and its affiliate had delayed his plans for Azumi “quite a bit”.
And he warned against allowing “a 1960s development mentality”, where one or a small number of large companies controls all developments that take place, to take hold as this was not in The Bahamas’ best interests.
Arguing that the challenge to his project “makes no sense”, Mr Dean argued that permitting multiple developers to go forward with their plans in an orderly, regulated fashion will create the “diversity” that The Bahamas and western New Providence need.
“If one single entity plans out western New Providence you don’t get that diversity,” he told Tribune Business. “We cannot have a 1960s development mentality. It’s got to be in step with what the country needs.
“For my development, who’s building single homes or two homes on a three-acre parcel? Even the wealthy don’t do that. Not even Lyford Cay and Albany build like that. It’s counter-intuitive, counter to resources. It doesn’t react accordingly to the needs of the housing market.”
With the appeal challenge now resolved, Mr Dean told Tribune Business that he hopes to have “shovels in the ground” on Azumi in the 2025 secondhalf once the necessary financing, permits and contractors are in place.
However, New Providence Development Company and Old Fort Company can still contest the Appeal Board’s verdict before the Supreme Court and the former has already chosen this route in at least one other planning-related dispute. The law stipulates planning decisions can be disputed at every level of the Bahamian judicial system.
Despite defeats before both the Town Planning Committee and Appeals Board, New Providence Development Company is now asking the Supreme
Court to overturn the approval granted for rezoning five acres near Lyford Cay owned by Henry F Storr from residential to commercial.
The electrical retailer is arguing that the rezoning will facilitate the property’s sale and enable it to achieve a higher price, but New Providence Development Company is arguing - in similar fashion to Mr Dean’s case - that the restrictive covenants imposed in the conveyance when it sold the property to Henry F Storr should remain in place and not be extinguished.
These battles, together with the Supreme Court’s verdict in the recent dispute between New Providence Development Company and the One West Plaza retail/office park’s developer, highlight what appears to be growing conflict over the former’s use of restrictive covenants to guide and/or limit the type or scale of development that occurs in western New Providence.
Sir Ian Winder, the chief justice, in his recent verdict on the One West dispute wrote that New Providence Development Company, in its role as the area’s master developer, has sought to use these covenants to “exert control” over the activities of other developers to protect its own interests and backed this up with “its ‘economic clout’”. The latter, he added, included refusing to sell extra land to others.
‘Restrictive covenants’ are becoming especially challenging when the original purchasers from New Providence Development Company sell their properties on to new owners who have different plans for the site. “I hope they don’t,” Mr Dean replied, when asked about the likelihood of Azumi having to face a Supreme Court challenge. “This is a project that is well in-keeping with development trends in the area.
“As a matter of fact, it’s intentionally understated compared to what is going on around us. It’s a small community and the impact is marginal compared to what’s going on
in the rest of western New Providence. I really hope they don’t [appeal to the Supreme Court].
“I don’t see how it benefits the common good if we have to take another step here. As developers we all work in the best interests of the country at large. We would spend too much time and energy fighting the process. Our energies are much better spent in the country’s development.”
For now, Mr Dean and his family are savouring the Appeals Board ruling and removal - at least for the moment - of any roadblocks. “I’m obviously over the moon that we finally got this behind us and can get on with our project,” he said. “This means so much to me and my family. There are so many people who want to get involved in the project.
“I’m definitely looking forward to this. It’s been a dream of my dad and I. He’s turning 83 next month. It really means a lot to my family that he’s able to see this actually move forward now. It takes a lot of wherewithal, funding and resources to do a development like this. We’re at a stage where we can move the ball forward, whereas he had more challenges.
“We got our first approval last year. Of course, we went through the regulatory process. It was nothing crazy, nothing complex. It’s a very simple development with two-storey buildings. These aren’t towers and will not block anyone’s views. You could easily drive past and not see it because there will be
a 75-foot setback between the road and where the project starts.”
Mr Dean said the plans have changed little from those detailed by Tribune Business last year, with the project set to feature 15 duplexes each containing two units. “The only thing adjusted is how the buildings sit on the property. We have some guidelines given by the Department of Physical Planning. There won’t be any material changes,” he added.
“We’re really going to stick with what we got in the site plan approval. Right now, we’re still in the planning stages so we have work to set up the site, the building design and the feasibility study.” Mr Dean affirmed his intention to give Bahamians an opportunity to finance and invest in Azumi via a private placement offering that will take place once all necessary permits and approvals are obtained.
Explaining that the “feasibility study” will identify “the best mix of funding sources” and how to structure any offering, he added that the initial strategy was to have small retail investors participate “at a certain level” with the balance coming from institutions and high net worth individuals.
“I always try to look locally first in terms of being able to invest in these types of projects,” Mr Dean explained. “I am fine with foreign direct investment, but don’t think we do enough to incentivise the local population. We have to incentivise people to want to invest in homes. If they have
a choice, people would rather spend their money here than abroad.
“The progress of a lot of these projects depends on the funding - how much is allocated in one go, and pre-sales. If we get it in a single phase, I would love that. I’d love to roll through it in a single phase. It’s going to be responsible development.
“I’ve been a developer for the last 20 to 30 years of my life. I haven’t been at this for a minute. I take pride in the projects I work on, and there’s a responsibility we have as professionals to bring good quality projects to the market. I’m really looking forward to bringing something special with my team.”
Mr Dean confirmed previous projections that Azumi will likely create a further 30-40 full and part-time posts through operation of amenities such as a clubhouse, pool and wellness centre, as well as services required by residents. And he forecast that more than the initially-estimated 50 to 75 construction jobs will be required.
“I was kind of tentative and couldn’t take on too much initially before we got past that appeal,” Mr Dean said of Azumi’s current status.
“That was hanging over our heads. Now that’s out the way, I would say it will probably be mid-year before we’re clear with the design and approvals. I would say any time between the third and fourth quarter next year we’ll have shovels in the ground.”
DirecTV files complaint against Disney with FCC as impasse enters 2nd week
By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer
THE impasse between DirecTV and Disney over a new carriage agreement has become more heated as it entered its second week.
DirecTV filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission on Saturday night accusing Disney of negotiating in bad faith.
Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC-owned stations in nine markets, have been off DirecTV since the evening of September 1. That meant DirecTV customers were blacked out from viewing most college football games and the final week of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, including the women’s and men’s finals.
DirecTV has 11.3 million subscribers, according to Leichtman Research Group, making it the nation’s third-largest pay TV provider.
ABC and ESPN will have the “Monday Night Football” opener between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers. ABC
will also produce and carry a presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on Tuesday in Philadelphia. ABC-owned stations in Los Angeles; the San Francisco Bay Area; Fresno, California; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Houston; and Raleigh, North Carolina, are off DirecTV.
Besides all ESPN network channels and ABC-owned stations, Disney-branded channels Freeform, FX and National Geographic channel are dark.
DirecTV says in its 10-page complaint that Disney is violating the FCC’s good faith mandates by asking it to waive any legal claims on any anticompetitive actions, including its ongoing packaging and minimum penetration demands.
DirecTV has asked Disney for the option to provide consumers with cheaper and skinnier bundles of programming, instead of bigger bundles that carry programming some viewers might not be interested in watching.
The complaint states: “Along with these anticompetitive demands, Disney has also insisted that DirecTV agree to a ‘clean slate’ provision and a covenant not to sue, both of which are intended to prevent DirecTV from taking legal action regarding Disney’s anticompetitive demands, which would include filing good faith complaints at the Commission. Not three months ago, however, the Media Bureau made clear that such a demand itself constitutes bad faith.”
DirecTV CEO Ray Carpenter said during a conference call with business and media analysts on Tuesday that they would not agree to a new carriage deal with Disney without bundling changes.
“We’re not playing a short-term game,” Carpenter said. “We need
something that is going to work for the long-term sustainability of our video customers. The resolve is there.”
Disney has claimed since the blackout began that mutual release of claims is standard practice after licensing agreements are negotiated and agreed upon by the parties. It has also had one with DirecTV under its past renewals.
A Disney spokesperson said: “We continue to negotiate with DirecTV to restore access to our content as quickly as possible. We urge DirecTV to stop creating diversions and instead prioritize their customers by finalizing a deal that would allow their subscribers to watch our strong upcoming lineup of sports, news and entertainment programming, starting with the return of Monday Night Football.”
Last year, Disney and Charter Spectrum — the nation’s second-largest cable TV provider — were involved in a nearly 12-day impasse until coming to an agreement hours before the first Monday night NFL game of the season.
Legal Notice NOTICE
Deltec Select Fund Limited
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN as follows:
(a) Deltec Select Fund Limited is in dissolution under the provisions of the International Business Companies Act, 2000.
(b) The dissolution of the said Fund commenced on the 5th day of September, 2024 when its Articles of Dissolution were submitted to and registered by the Registrar General.
(c) The Liquidator of the said Fund is Shareece Scott of Deltec Bank & Trust Limited, Deltec House, Lyford Cay, P.O.Box N-3229, Nassau, Bahamas.
Dated this 6th day of September A.D., 2024. Shareece Scott Liquidator
NOTICE
SAN REMO GLOBAL INVESTMENTS LTD.
Notice is hereby given that the above-named Company is in dissolution, commencing on the 4th day of September 2024. Articles of Dissolution have been duly registered by the Registrar. The liquidator is AMICORP BAHAMAS MANAGEMENT LIMITED, of Nassau, Bahamas.
Dated this 6th day of September 2024
AMICORP BAHAMAS MANAGEMENT LIMITED LIQUIDATOR
THE ESPN logo is seen, September 16, 2013, prior to an NFL football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/David Kohl)
‘Remarkably favourable’ multi billion gain for FTX creditors
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor
FTX’s Bahamian liquidators are asserting that the failed crypto exchange’s creditors and customers will enjoy “a remarkably favourable outcome” via a multi-billion interest gain while recovering all their principal.
Brian Simms KC, the Lennox Paton attorney and senior partner, alleged in an August 15, 2024, affidavit filed with the Supreme Court that the 9 percent
interest applied following FTX’s November 2022 collapse could result in a $2bn collective gain for victims through to October 31 this year. That is when the revised Chapter 11 reorganisation plan, developed by John Ray, the Bahamian liquidators’ US counterpart, is due to take effect and trigger the payment of legitimate claims submitted by FTX creditors and customers both here and in Delaware.
And Mr Simms, whose fellow FTX Digital Markets’ liquidators are
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) accounting duo, Kevin Cambridge and Peter Greaves, also disclosed that victims could enjoy a further collective $800m gain from interest continuing to be paid at 9 percent from end-October until their claims are paid in full.
That would make for a total $2.8bn gain, in addition to the anticipated $11.2bn in claims accepted by both Mr Ray and the Bahamian liquidators.
“The joint official liquidators believe that payment of post-petition interest
on accrued eligible Digital Markets customer claims and Digital Markets non-customer claims is a remarkably favourable outcome for creditors and customers,” Mr Simms asserted.
“Assuming that the effective date of the plan is October 31, 2024, and the total estimated amount of allowable creditor claims is approximately $11.2bn, the post-petition interest payment could provide approximately $2bn of incremental value to
‘MAGIC MUSHROOMS’ DEFENDANT IN UNLICENSED CRYPTO VENTURE
drug-related allegations. “I told his wife what I needed, my retainer to do that stuff, and I have not heard from him since. They thought I could do it for free. I don’t need that,” he added.
The attorney clarified that the cell phone number listed on both website’s was Mr Biere’s. Telephone calls to, and messages left with, the number were not responded to before press time last night. Reports from last week’s court hearing said Mr Biere was not present because he had been remanded to Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre for a psychiatric evaluation in relation to another charge. The revelations concerning Aethercoin and Mr
Biere are likely to renew concerns over whether The Bahamas’ digital assets regulatory regime is still sufficiently robust especially given that memories of FTX’s collapse are so fresh, even though this nation was the first to react by placing the crypto exchange’s local subsidiary under Supreme Court-supervised provisional liquidation.
Tribune Business has obtained a Reddit message, seemingly posted by Aethercoin some six years ago, in which it pushes back against the need for Know Your Customer (KYC) regulation of crypto currencies and digital assets businesses.
“We believe KYC does not belong in the crypto world,” the posting read. “That’s why we choose not to use a KYC for our ICO (initial coin offering) for
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that JUDITE APOLLON of #64 Bruce Avenue, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 2nd day of September, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that RASHADO LOUIS of Hanna Road, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 2nd day of September, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
JOB POSITIONS
Walkers Industries Limited is seeking a skilled Network Support Ofcer and a skilled Structured Cabling and Electrical Technician to join our team.
Interested candidates should forward their resumes to info@walkersindustries.com for more details
example. In our opinion it is ridiculous to think that KYC would stop terrorists or any criminal for that matter. All it does is limit the freedom of many for the transgressions of a few.” Aethercoin’s website, which states that “this project is for the good of the future of mankind so our children can enjoy a censorship free world”, also contains other direct links to the ‘magic mushrooms’ venture besides sharing a common phone number and having Mr Biere’s picture on both sites. It contains a direct link to what is called ‘Aether Psilocybin Therapy’, adding: “We have one of the best Psilocybin treatment centres in The Bahamas.”
Another link is to Aether real estate, stating that this rents out “Airbnb properties all over the world”
- another industry that
Mr Biere and his wife are involved in. All the businesses seem to operate from the same location, Ranfurly Drive, 41 Coral Harbour.
Ms Hollink was last week charged with cultivation of dangerous drugs, possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply, possession of dangerous drugs and soliciting persons for the sale of dangerous drugs. Mr Biere’s name was on the docket as a co-defendant but he was not present at the arraignment.
His wife pleaded not guilty before Senior Magistrate Shaka Serville. Police allegedly found the psilocybin mushrooms, known as ‘magic mushrooms’, when they raided the Coral Harbour home that Mrs Hollink and Mr Biere operate as an Airbnb.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that ANNAKAY ALICIA ALLWOOD JOHNSON of #13 McKinney Avenue, Stapledon Gardens, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/ naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twentyeight days from the 9th day of September, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
NOTICE is hereby given that BIDE LOUIDOR of Cowpen Road, New Providence, Bahamas applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for Registration Naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 2nd day of September, 2024 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas.
NOTICE
IN THE ESTATE of JANE VERNITA MORLEYMILLER late of the Bamboo Town in the Southern Island of New Providence, one of the Islands of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, deceased.
Notice is hereby given that all persons having any claim or demands against the above named Estate are required to send their names, addresses and particulars of the same duly certifed in writing to the undersigned on or before the 5th day of September A.D., 2024, and if required, prove such debts or claims, or in default be excluded from any distribution; after the above date the assets will be distributed having regard only to the proved debts or claims of which the Executor shall then have had Notice.
And Notice is hereby given that all persons indebted to the said Estate are requested to make full settlement on or before the aforementioned date.
MICHAEL A. DEAN & CO.,
Attorneys for the Executor
Alvernia Court, 49A Dowdeswell Street P.O. Box N-3114 Nassau, The Bahamas
creditors through to the effective date of the plan.
“After the effective date, creditors would continue to earn 9 percent interest on the unpaid portion of their claims from the petition date until paid in full, resulting in approximately $0.8bn ($800m) of incremental value to creditors.”
The disclosures came as the Supreme Court granted approval to several amendments to the deal agreed with Mr Ray
in a bid to facilitate the prompt return of assets to creditors. This includes a structure designed to compensate small creditors owed $50,000 or less via an “accelerated” payout that will be made within 60 days of the Chapter 11 plan taking effect. “As a practical measure, in the best interest of the estates, the [Bahamian liquidators] and [Mr
NOTICE
ARKHOS HOLDING LTD.
Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Registration number 205051 B (In Voluntary Liquidation)
Notice is hereby given that the above-named Company is in dissolution, commencing on the 5th day of September A.D. 2024.
Articles of Dissolution have been duly registered by the Registrar. The Liquidator is MRS. BARBARA ELISABETH LAFRANCHI, whose address is Rua Armando Petrella, 311 Apto 21, CEP: 05679-010, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil. Any Persons having a Claim against the above-named Company are required on or before the 5th day of October A.D. 2024 to send their names, addresses and particulars of their debts or claims to the Liquidator of the Company, or in default thereof they may be excluded from the beneft of any distribution made before such claim is proved.
Dated this 5th day of September A.D. 2024. BARBARA ELISABETH LAFRANCHI LIQUIDATOR
NOTICE
DGB LTD.
Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Registration number 206114 B (In Voluntary Liquidation)
Notice is hereby given that the above-named Company is in dissolution, commencing on the 6th day of September A.D. 2024.
Articles of Dissolution have been duly registered by the Registrar. The Liquidator is MR. DANIEL GIRARDO DE BRITO, whose address is Rua Constantino de Souza 1757, CEP: 04605-004, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Any Persons having a Claim against the above-named Company are required on or before the 6th day of October A.D. 2024 to send their names, addresses and particulars of their debts or claims to the Liquidator of the Company, or in default thereof they may be excluded from the beneft of any distribution made before such claim is proved.
Dated this 6th day of September A.D. 2024. DANIEL GIRARDO DE BRITO LIQUIDATOR
NOTICE
Patgu Ltd.
Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas registered in the Register of Companies under the registration number 211682 B. (In Voluntary Liquidation)
Notice is hereby given that the liquidation and the winding up of the Company is complete and the Company has been struck off the Register of Companies maintained by the Registrar General.
Dated this 5th day of September A.D. 2024.
GUSTAVO SILVEIRA MALTAURO LIQUIDATOR
NOTICE
CATALAVISA LTD.
Incorporated under the International Business Companies Act, 2000 of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Registration number 207157 B (In Voluntary Liquidation)
Notice is hereby given that the above-named Company is in dissolution, commencing on the 5th day of September A.D. 2024.
Articles of Dissolution have been duly registered by the Registrar. The Liquidator is Mr. Fernando Vieira Santos Filho, whose address is Rua Leopoldo Couto de Magalhaes Junior 1337, Apt 24, São Paulo, Brazil, CEP 04542-012. Any Persons having a Claim against the above-named Company are required on or before the 5th day of October A.D. 2024 to send their names, addresses and particulars of their debts or claims to the Liquidator of the Company, or in default thereof they may be excluded from the beneft of any distribution made before such claim is proved.
Dated this 5th day of September A.D. 2024. FERNANDO VIEIRA SANTOS FILHO LIQUIDATOR
‘Remarkably favourable’ multi billion gain for FTX creditors
Ray] have assessed and determined a means to accelerate distributions to creditors and customers (especially to the holders of smaller claims),” Mr Simms alleged.
This “included by allowing creditors and customers with reconciled claim values of $50,000 or less to be classified in the plan as ‘convenience class claims’ and to receive payment with interest within
60 days of the effective date of the plan, subject to completion of any KYC (know your customer) and the necessary distribution requirements,” he added. “Through this convenience class mechanism,
approximately 98 percent of customers will be eligible to receive early cash recoveries. Customers with claims over the sum of $50,000 can also irrevocably agree to have their claim reduced to $50,000 in order to be
paid within the convenience class. However, these customers will be disentitled and barred from seeking the difference in value for accepting the lesser sum.”
FTX’s Bahamian liquidators, in earlier advice
distributed to creditors, estimated that so-called ‘convenience class’ customers would recover sums equal to 119 percent of the value of their approved claim. n the case of larger victims, who wait longer to receive their payout, this was forecast to rise to between 129 percent to 143 percent.
“These customers will receive a one-time, full and final distribution equivalent to 100 percent of their reconciled claim value based on the conversion rates as at 11 November, 2022, approved by the Bahamas Court, and an amount representing post-petition interest of 9 percent per annum on the reconciled claim value from the reference date of 11 November, 2022, through the applicable distribution date,” the Bahamian liquidators said of ‘convenience’ claims.
“The joint official liquidators currently estimate that this will amount to a payment of approximately 119 percent of the reconciled claim value for convenience class customers.”
As for those owed more than $50,000, they added:
“At present, the joint official liquidators currently estimate that this will amount to a payment of approximately 129-143 percent of the reconciled claim value for non-convenience class customers of FTX. com.
“Distributions will be made via selected payment processors or crypto currency exchanges and service providers. We expect to offer retail customers a choice between short listed distribution agents. NFTs (non-fungible tokens will be returned to customers (where available) via a transfer to a selected wallet address.”
Wynn Resorts paying $130m for letting illegal money reach gamblers at its casino on the Las Vegas Strip
By KEN RITTER Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Casino company Wynn Resorts Ltd. has agreed to pay $130 million to federal authorities and admit that it let unlicensed money transfer businesses around the world funnel funds to gamblers at its flagship Las Vegas Strip property.
The publicly traded company said a non-prosecution settlement reached Friday represented a monetary figure identified by the U.S. Justice Department as “funds involved in the transactions at issue” at the Wynn Las Vegas resort.
In statements to the media and to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the forfeiture wasn’t a fine and findings in the decade-long case didn’t amount to money laundering.
U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath in San Diego said the settlement showed that casinos are accountable if they let foreign customers evade U.S. laws. She said $130 million was believed to be the largest forfeiture by a casino “based on admissions of criminal wrongdoing.”
Wynn Resorts said it severed ties with all people and businesses involved in what the government characterised as “convoluted transactions” overseas.
“Several former employees facilitated the use of unlicensed money transmitting businesses, which both violated our internal policies and the law, and for which we take responsibility,” the company said in a statement Saturday to The Associated Press.
In its news release, the Justice Department detailed several methods it said were used to transfer money between Wynn Las Vegas and people in China and other countries.
One, dubbed “Flying Money,” involved an unlicensed money agent using multiple foreign bank accounts to transfer money to the casino for use by a patron who could not otherwise access cash in the U.S.
Another involved having a person referred to as a “Human Head” gamble at the casino at the direction of another person who was unwilling or unable to place bets because of anti-money laundering and other laws.
The Justice Department said one person, acting as an independent agent for
the casino, conducted more than 200 money transfers worth nearly $18 million through bank accounts controlled by Wynn Las Vegas “or associated entities” on behalf of more than 50 foreign casino patrons. Wynn Resorts called its agreement with the government a final step in a six-year effort to “put legacy issues fully behind us and focus on our future.”
The SEC filing noted the investigation began about 2014.
It did not use the name of former CEO Steve Wynn. But since 2018, the parent company has been enmeshed with legal issues surrounding his departure after sexual misconduct allegations against him were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Wynn attorneys in Las Vegas did not respond Saturday to messages about the company settlement.
Wynn, now 82 and living in Florida, has said he has no remaining ties to his namesake company. He has consistently denied committing sexual misconduct.
The billionaire developer of a luxury casino empire in
Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Mississippi and the Chinese gambling enclave of Macao resigned from Wynn Resorts after the reports became public, divested company shares and quit the corporate board.
Last year, in an agreement with Nevada gambling regulators, he agreed to cut links to the industry he helped shape in Las Vegas and pay a $10 million fine. He admitted no wrongdoing.
In 2019, the Nevada Gaming Commission fined Wynn Resorts a record $20 million for failing to investigate claims of sexual misconduct made against him before he resigned.
Massachusetts gambling regulators fined the company and a top executive
$35.5 million for failing to disclose the sexual misconduct allegations against Wynn while it applied for a license for its Encore Boston Harbor resort.
The company made no admissions of wrongdoing.
Wynn Resorts agreed in November 2019 to accept $20 million in damages
from Wynn and $21 million from insurance carriers to settle shareholder lawsuits accusing company directors of failing to disclose misconduct allegations.
The Justice Department said Friday that as part of its investigation, 15 people previously admitted money laundering, unlicensed money transmission or other crimes, paying criminal penalties of more than $7.5 million.
Wynn Resorts noted in its statement on Friday that its non-prosecution agreement with the government did not refer to money laundering.
THE WYNN Las Vegas is framed under a Las Vegas Boulevard street sign, Tuesday, April 19, 2011, in Las Vegas.
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Digital provider helps to make QC cashless
By ANNELIA NIXON anixon@tribunemedia.net
A BAHAMIAN digital payments provider says Queen’s College is now a cashless campus with the school’s principal describing student use of such products as “really significant”.
Students have been provided with chipped Smart ID cards, which double as identification and a cashless payment method to be used at the school’s cafeteria, bookstore and online services. Jamal Binghal, Kanoo’s assistant operations manager, said students may also use their card off-campus at partnering merchants, including businesses such as Super Value.
He explained that once Kanoo has completed the onboarding process, parents can then “top up” the cards which have daily and monthly limits. Reverend Henry Knowles, Queen’s College’s principal, said Kanoo’s cashless option
had been introduced to the campus on a trial basis over the past year and now is “fully integrated” among parents and students alike.
“Our adoption rate over the last year is really high - significant,” he said. “Our students are loving it. Parents are loving it, and we are excited for all of the opportunities it brings.”
Rev Knowles said that, at first, there was a “period of hesitation”. He added that cyber crime and fraud were a concern but parents are coming around to the idea.
“There was a period of hesitation, but our adoption rate now at about 73-75 percent,” he said.
“And so parents are coming more on board because of the ease of access. Kanoo is continually upgrading their services, and so now some of that offering and other things that happen in the process, they’re working through and so I feel now parents are a lot more excited for it.”
Chef Nathan Rolle said he believes the cashless payment is efficient. However, he noted that Internet problems can affect the system and cause hold-ups. Rev Knowles praised the cashless payment, noting that its use can reduce the fear of crime.
“And so we know that we are a nation that is concerned about crime and safety, and by moving more to a cashless environment, it helps to reduce some of that fear and also it increases the efficiency of providing service to the public,” he added.
Rev Knowles explained that, through the Kanoo platform which parents have access to, they can upload and track money on a student’s account. Mr Binghal said it can teach students about financial literacy and responsibility. Student Afreen Fathima concurred. “It’ll prepare me for using cashless systems in society because I learned
how to apply money into my account and how to take it out and how to manage it,” she said.
Rev Knowles said he wants Queen’s College to be an example to other schools. “We want to be a beacon, as a lighthouse school, to be able to show others that if we can do it, you can do it as well. And so we feel that as more schools adopt it, it will help us as a nation to move towards this type of atmosphere,” he added.
Jevon Butler, Kanoo’s chief sales officer, said wearable technology is another project underway and set to be revealed at the beginning of 2025. “We do a lot of API integrations into websites for the small, medium-sized businesses who are looking to promote and have their funds settled here in The Bahamas,” he added.
“We also have over-thecounter transactions, so you’ll find us throughout
the communities. Some of the recognisable stores would be Sandy’s, John’s apartment store, Super Value chains and many other stores.” Mr Butler sees Kanoo as expanding
past The Bahamas and the Caribbean. He said: “We’re going to carry this culture from The Bahamas to the Caribbean, and from the Caribbean to the world.”
‘Good sign of lobster’ as the boats return early
By ANNELIA NIXON anixon@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMIAN fisher-
men yesterday confirmed they have enjoyed a strong August start to crawfish season with catch volumes and prices both improved.
Lawrence Smith told Tribune Business that both commercial and private boats are returning to shore early with full loads of crawfish to signal a plentiful harvest during the season’s early weeks. With the season a little over five weeks’ old, having started on August 1, he added that with the majority of boats back already it “seems like it’s a good sign of lobster”.
“A lot of the big commercial boats, they go to sea for three weeks. Three weeks to a month they go out, and they were only out for two weeks this season so far and they were back home,” Mr Smith said. “So that meant it was a really good sign, because the whole Bahama bank.... you’re not going to get the same thing.
“Certain areas you’re going to get more. Some areas you’re going to get less. The northern Bahamas normally have more, but this year the northern Bahamas wasn’t as productive as the southern Bahamas. The southern Bahamas on the banks, they have an area in the southern areas that’s called the the Bricks. A lot of the boats ran down the area.”
Andrew Thompson, captain of a commercia fishingl boat, said early-season crawfish prices were higher than those attained last year. “The price last year was like only $8, $9, but it moved up a couple dollars and we got like $12 a pound,” he added.
Keith Carroll, president of the National Fisheries Association (NFA), said Bahamians must do their part and stop purchasing undersized crawfish from vendors if the industry is to be sustainable and continue to flourish. According to Mr Carroll, if nobody is buying then fishermen will stop catching, thus allowing crawfish stocks to replenish, grow and populate the waters.
“I encourage the Bahamian population to stop buying undersize crawfish,” Mr Carroll said. “And they have to stop it because, if they stop it, the guys wouldn’t have nowhere to sell it. That’s something a Bahamian can do to save our industry. Don’t buy undersized crawfish.
“So these guys that go to catch them, if they don’t have nowhere to sell them, then they would discourage them from getting them because, like I say, if a boat come in with undersized crawfish they wouldn’t be able to sell them to the fish houses.
“So they probably take them somewhere else to get them sell, but that don’t
mean Bahamians should buy them because we need them to spawn, to grow to an age where they can reproduce.” Mr Carroll added that this would help lessen the risk of lobster stocks being diminished and help to produce crawfish for future Bahamians and fishermen to enjoy in years to come.
All fishermen spoken to by Tribune Business said the African market will play a huge role in how crawfish season in The Bahamas shapes up. With crawfish plentiful on that continent, they are able to sell lobster at cheaper rate to European buyers and undercut The Bahamas on price. However, Mr Thompson said The Bahamas is becoming more competitive again with crawfish stocks rebuilding.
Keith Carroll said poaching is another factor that, in the past, greatly impacted the fishing industry. However, he praised the Royal Bahamas Defence Force for better patrolling this nation’s waters and cracking down on foreign poachers.
“I would like to publicly thank the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, Commodore King and his men, his marines, for doing a good job,” he said. “Without them we are nothing. I must commend him. They’re doing a good, good job. He wouldn’t know the effects of what he’s doing, but I know he’s doing a good job.”
