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Tuesday, June 16, 2026
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Capo son-in-law’s ‘two decade tax fraud’ claim BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net RESORTS World Bimini’s original developer has been accused by his son-in-law of perpetrating a “two-decade tax fraud and evasion” against the Government and Bahamian people involving “millions of dollars” in unpaid VAT and other obligations. Rafael Reyes, in a May 21, 2026, lawsuit filed with the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court is alleging that Gerardo Capo, who spearheaded the previously-named Bimini Bay development, and one of his corporate entities were forced to agree a formal repayment plan with the Bahamian tax authorities after “sufficient irregularities” were uncovered during a VAT audit. Mr Reyes, who would have had inside knowledge of such developments prior to the acrimonious December 2025 split with his fatherin-law, claimed in legal documents obtained by Tribune Business that Mr Capo treated companies he owned and controlled as “alter egos” by constantly moving funds and assets between them in a bid to escape tax liabilities due to the Bahamian Public Treasury. In particular, he is alleging that Mr Capo recorded “fictitious and unsupported transactions” in the accounting records of RAV Bahamas, the entity that developed Bimini Bay before becoming Genting’s minority partner in its transformation into Resorts World Bimini, and OPAC Bahamas. The latter is a construction
MARIO CAREY
GAVIN CHRISTIE
Realtor: Don’t cap private island tax at $200,000 yearly BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net RESORTS WORLD BIMINI
Alleges ‘millions of dollars’ in VAT, NIB, Immigration fees evaded
Bimini developer’s construction firm forced to repay The Bahamas
and project management company, also controlled by Mr Capo, which developed other Bahamas-based projects such as the Treasure Cove gated community in eastern New Providence. And Mr Reyes, who claims to have served as RAV Bahamas president for more than a decade, is also asserting that his father-in-law’s companies employed schemes such as deferring revenues beyond the period in which they were earned, as well as generating “artificial expenses”, to avoid
Water sports fear 40% hit on US jet skis alert BY ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net THE US embassy’s warning urging all American visitors not to rent jet skis in The Bahamas could have immediate negative consequences for bookings during the water sports industry’s peak tourist season, an operator warned HERSCHEL yesterday. WALKER Astra Charlton, director of business development at My Own Water Sports, said the advisory’s timing is particularly damaging for legitimate operators who rely heavily on US visitors during the summer months. “The core issue is the impact of the US. Embassy’s safety warnings regarding jet ski and small watercraft operations on our industry,” Ms Charlton said. “Although jet ski safety concerns have existed for some time, the recent video featuring the US Ambassador has intensified attention on this issue.” She added that the advisory comes at a critical economic moment. “The alert’s timing is significant,” she said. “It comes as The Bahamas sees rising visitor arrivals and licensed water sports operators enter a key revenue period. “For our business, summer generates about 40 percent of annual revenue, and US visitors make up over 90 percent of our customers. An official US warning now can shape travel decisions, discourage bookings and create hesitation among our main market.” Ms Charlton emphasized that while safety concerns are real, the public messaging risks blurring the line between compliant businesses and illegal operators. “What is notable, however, is that the discourse has shifted,” she said. “The issue
ALERT - See Page B5
PRIVATE islands and foreign-owned homes worth more than $20m should not have their annual real property tax payments capped at a maximum $200,000, a prominent Bahamian realtor is arguing, calling for it to be set much higher. Mario Carey, president and chief executive of Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate MCR Bahamas, told Tribune Business “it makes no sense” for the Government to limit real property tax yields from the wealthiest owners given that, on some private islands, “a bottle of wine is worth more than that” $200,000 cap that will be set for foreign owner-occupied property with effect from July 1. Urging that “another tier” be created for those
Father-in-law blasts suit as ‘improper’, ‘flagrant misuse’ of courts
and under-state taxes plus National Insurance Board (NIB) contributions and Immigration-related fees. The tax evasion allegations are part of a wider lawsuit in which Mr Reyes is seeking more than $20m in damages over claims that Mr Capo and his companies have paid little to nothing in commission owed on $147m worth of Bahamas-based real estate sales located in Bimini. The 11th Judicial Circuit court case is one of several legal battles between the
BATTLE - See Page B4
Trustee appeal critical for tax info exchange regime BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN trust company’s bid to revive the strike out of a former client’s negligence and breach of contract lawsuit has been allowed to proceed by the Supreme Court because of its “wider public importance” to this nation’s international tax
information exchange regime and obligations. Justice Camille Darville-Gomez, in a June 1, 2026, ruling rejected the arguments by Isaac Daniel Picciotto Kassin, a wealthy Colombian businessman, and allowed the appeal by JP Morgan Trust Company (Bahamas) to move ahead while also ‘staying’, or halting, her previous verdict that dismissed the financial
institution’s attempt to strike out his lawsuit. In particular, she found that JP Morgan’s appeal raises issues critical to The Bahamas’ wider financial services industry and, in particular, whether the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information Act 2016 offers legal immunity for a local financial institution, and its employees and agents, making lawful “bona fide” disclosures of client information under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) that governs non-US global tax information sharing standards. Mr Kassin initiated Supreme Court legal action after incurring a $2.5m tax
Sebas pledges AI reform across the public service BY FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE Government plans to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) across the public sector, introduce a national identity (ID) card and connect public sector databases as part of a sweeping modernisation drive designed to improve efficiency and make it easier to do business in The Bahamas. Sebas Bastian, innovation and national development minister, in his contribution to the 20262027 Budget debate argued that many government services remain slowed by outdated systems and disconnected databases despite years of digital transformation efforts. "Today, government collects mountains of information from its citizens, and then traps it," he said.
"Locked in sysSEBAS BASTIAN tems that MP cannot speak to one another. Filed in one office, invisible to the next. The result is a government slower than it should be, and a country harder to do business in than it should be. That is not an IT problem. It is a competitiveness problem." Mr Bastian said the Government intends to move beyond simply placing existing processes online and instead redesign how public services operate. "In too many cases, we digitised the form, while the work behind it stayed analog," he said. "Somewhere in this country right now, a form a citizen submitted online is being printed on to paper so it can be typed back
UPGRADE - See Page B5
Carey urges ‘higher tier’ for homes above $20m Multi-family ‘the perfect model for Bahamians’ ‘Balancing act’ on new foreign owner-occupied who own homes and private islands valued at more than $20m, he added that Bahamians will not be impacted by such a move as there are none “close to that price point”. And Mr Carey also backed the Davis administration’s decision to switch the test qualifying
DEVELOP - See Page B4 penalty when JP Morgan mistakenly provided information not required by Bahamian law to the Colombian tax authorities. The institution also valued his investments at three times’ their previously-disclosed worth. The Colombian, who is involved in the wine business in both his homeland and Chile, had declared the assets held by his Bahamas-domiciled trust, the Cabo Verde Trust, as being worth $6.183m in both the 2016 and 2017 tax returns he submitted to his home country tax authorities. The valuation was based on the “historical cost” of
CHALLENGE - See Page B5