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Friday, January 30, 2026
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Bahamas bank: Congress hopeful targeted us with ‘smear canpaign’ BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN bank is accusing a Republican candidate seeking to contest a seat in the US Congress of orchestrating a “defamatory smear campaign” against itself and its chairman over claims his payment provider “unlawfully withheld” $20m belonging to themselves and their clients. Deltec Bank & Trust, in fresh legal filings submitted to the south Florida federal court on Monday, is alleging that Michael Carbonara, who is presently seeking the Republican nomination to contest the state’s 25th congressional district in the upcoming US mid-term elections, sought help to “fight fire with fire” and “play the dirty game” over their increasingly bitter courtroom battle. The Lyford Cay-headquartered institution, which is claiming that Mr Carbonara and his payments provider, Ibanera, have withheld and refused to return some $20m
• Deltec faced effort to trash its reputation over $35m lawsuit
• Plan for • Talk of getting Republican chair arrested, hopeful to ‘play fraud claim, use dirty’, ‘fight ‘Trump’s team’ fire with fire’
belonging to Deltec and its clients that they were supposed to hold on trust, or escrow, says it has obtained e-mail evidence of an organised attempt to trash its reputation and that of its chairman, Jean Chalopin. Deltec alleges that Mr Carbonara was advised to initiate a lawsuit against Mr Chalopin in the Miami courts for alleged fraud, potentially using US anti-corruption legislation known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisation (RICO) Act, which was intended to target organised crime. It is also claiming its adversary was told to contact the US Justice Department
“through Trump’s team”, meaning advisers close to US president Donald Trump, over what was described as a “whistleblower deal” and to “leverage your political connections to ensure” Mr Chalopin was arrested in the US. The use of private investigators to “dig” up purported dirt and negative information on the Deltec chairman was also recommended. Deltec, which is asserting that Mr Carbonara and Ibanera started to “dissemble and offer pretexts” for not returning the funds, and have supplied no good reasons for withholding the $20m, claims the negative statements he and Ibanera have published
are “false and defamatory”. However, the Republican hopeful has testified in court that Ibanera has retained the assets after it “identified irregularities” involving the Deltec fund transactions. The Bahamian bank and trust company, in its January 26, 2026, legal filings obtained by Tribune Business, argues that the idea for a campaign to inflict serious damage on its reputation was sparked by the filing of its $35m damages claim against Mr Carbonara and Ibanera in the south Florida federal court on March 3, 2025.
THE Trades Union Congress (TUC) president yesterday said he is aiming “to find a formula” that prevents strikes and other forms of industrial action over overtime pay concerns after multiple nurses and healthcare workers called in sick just as payments are being processed. Obie Ferguson KC, speaking as the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) admitted
to a “rise in staff call-outs” at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) and other facilities it manages, told Tribune Business that all healthcare-related unions plan to meet over the situation amid escalating “demands” from workers that they paid what is due for excess hours worked. He added that, with the Cabinet having approved financing for December’s overtime payments that is now being processed and paid, the unions then need to meet with the PHA to
Bahamian unable to work for seven months on boat fall-off BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN service provider to visiting boats and yachts last night tearfully revealed that the increase in boating fees has caused widespread hardship as she has been unable to work for seven months due to the slowdown in traffic. Sydney Outten, owner of Bella Yacht Concierge Services, speaking at the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) town hall meeting last night, said the industry has been significantly disrupted as a result of the new and increased fees, and accompanying
regulations, which has left many stakeholders now struggling to pay their bills. “A lot of people have suffered, not just provisioning but people that are in the boating industry. Everyone has suffered all around. I haven't worked for seven months. As a Bahamian that's tough,” said Ms Outten. “It's really impactful and necessary for them [the Government] to realise how much it has turned the industry upside down. It's got to change because people can't pay their bills, and I just want people to know how much it hurts.”
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All Bahamas institutions must now register for tax reporting BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Attorney General yesterday warned that all Bahamian financial institutions, not just those with “reportable accounts”, will have to register with the online automatc tax information exchange portal by June 2026 to close what he branded as “a regulatory gap”. Ryan Pinder KC, addressing the Bahamas Financial Services Board’s (BFSB) 2026 chief executive conclave, said the expansion
of the tax reporting net to mandate registration by all institutions is essential to maintaining this nation’s compliance with the global common reporting standard (CRS) initiative that is policed by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). Confirming that The Bahamas is still undergoing an OECD examination of its automatic tax information exchange laws and regulations, and the effectiveness of their
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• Union chief: Gov’t approached Emera on sale • Workers ‘assured’ benefits, industrial deal safe • ‘Rumour mill was churning’ on FOCOL interest BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Mr Ferguson told this newspaper that the TUC affiliates will also be seeking details on how many of their members have been paid due overtime
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PRINCESS MARGARET HOSPITAL (PMH) determine how such future compensation will be financed given that its fullyear 2025-2026 overtime budget was exhausted within three months by end-September 2025.
GB Power staff told deal within PM’s ‘60 to 90 days’ unlikely
GRAND Bahama Power Company employees yesterday said they were informed that any government acquisition of the utility is unlikely to be completed within the 60 to 90-day timeframe announced by the Prime Minister. Kendall Culmer, president of the Bahamas Industrial Engineers, Managers and Supervisory Union (BIEMSU), which represents GB Power’s middle managers union, told Tribune Business that Dave McGregor, the Caribbean head for Emera, the energy provider’s 100 percent owner, told staff “they don’t foresee” any deal closing within the upcoming two-three months. Speaking just after he and other workers met with Mr McGregor to address “job security” and other concerns, which were sparked by Prime Minister Philip Davis KC’s announcement that the Government and Emera have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that may lead to the former acquiring GB Power, the union chief disclosed they were “assured” their existing industrial agreements and contracts will be “honoured” in any deal.
BATTLE - See Page B5
TUC chief to ‘find formula’ for PHA overtime solution BY NEIL HARTNELL and ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporters
GRAND BAHAMA POWER COMPANY (GBPC)