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Tuesday, June 30, 2026
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Drug accused’s ties to Venice Bay holdings * Firm paid $1.155m for 27 lots in three-month spending spree * Corporate records named Jonathan Gardiner as its president A COMPANY with ties * FNM’s leader demands Top Notch money laundering probe to an accused drug traf!"#$%&'#()*+$%'' +,-./01#!/2-0122#%3-45, nhartnell@ tribunemedia.net
ficker acquired substantial assets in New Providence’s Venice Bay subdivision after embarking on a real estate spending spree that saw it purchase 27 lots for a combined $1.155m in less than three months. Corporate documents filed with the Registry of Records, which is maintained by the Registrar General’s Department, reveal that Jonathan Gardiner, now in federal custody after being seized by US authorities following the May 12 general election plane crash, was in 2016
named as the president of Jaric Enterprises Ltd. Filings seen by Tribune Business reveal that Jaric Enterprises purchased lots in Venice Bay, located on New Providence’s southern shore on Bacardi Road, at prices ranging from a low of $28,460 to a high of $75,000 between October 20, 2003, and January 13, 2004. All bar six of the lots, most of which were purchased from the subdivision’s original developer, Venice Bay Holdings, attracted a $38,460 purchase price.
Attorney’s Village Road property saved from mortgage restructurer !"#$%&'#()*+$%'' +,-./01#!/2-0122#%3-45, nhartnell@ tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN attorney’s former Village Road law offices have enjoyed a last-minute rescue after the Supreme Court dismissed a mortgage restructurer’s bid to foreclose and repossess the property as “frivolous and vexatious”. Acting justice Raynard Rigby KC yesterday upheld the strike-out by R&R Holdings, a company owned by attorney Derek
Ryan, after he found that both the action sparked by the original mortgage default and enforcement of a subsequent judgment by Gateway Ascendancy, which is headed by Sir Franklyn Wilson, were out of time and statute-barred by the Limitation Act. As a result, acting justice Rigby overturned two previous foreclosure Orders that would have allowed Gateway Ascendancy to repossess the building that once housed Mr Ryan’s law
SEE PROPERTY, Page 5
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Many of these lots were the subject of bulk purchases, which took place on two dates - November 4, 2003, and January 13, 2004 - and saw Jaric Enterprises buy multiple land parcels at the same time. The company then turned around and began to re-sell these lots from 2006 onwards sometimes at prices that were more than double, even four times’ greater, than what it originally paid to acquire the land. For example, two different lots acquired by Jaric
A CABINET minister yesterday hit back at the Opposition leader’s call for him to resign over his former role as president of a contractor linked to the election day plane crash drug accused, asserting that those seeking to "scandalise" his name will eventually have to admit they were wrong. Michael Halkitis, minister of finance, speaking in Parliament yesterday said the controversy surrounding Top Notch Builders, for whom corporate records show he served as president between 2019 and
!"#$%&'#()*+$%'' +,-./01#!/2-0122#%3-45, nhartnell@ tribunemedia.net THE Opposition’s leader yesterday pledged that concerns over whether taxpayer funds were misused to finance the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) general election campaign are “not going to go quietly” after a further $663,437 outlay on building material vouchers emerged. Michael Pintard told Tribune Business that the Free National Movement (FNM) plans to “pursue” the issue through the
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()'@&+&> 2021 while out of office, made him recall the period between 2015 and 2017 and claims that the Government had ‘stolen’ $1bn in
SEE RESPONSE, Page 4
he was Jaric Enterprises’ “president, director and the beneficial owner of all the shares” in the Bahamian-domiciled company. However, just three years later, the conveyance for the $90,000 lot sale in September 2016 names Jonathan Gardiner as “the president” of Jaric Enterprises. He signs the conveyance in this capacity to execute the sale, which came “by the order and with the authority of the Board of Directors” of
SEE HOLDINGS, Page 4
Pre-election building materials vouchers outlay hits $1.5m * Further $663,437 spent by Finance ministry in May * Opposition renews taxpayer funds misuse concern * Pledges that controversy is not ‘going to go quietly’
8&$+)*7 Public Accounts Committee and calls for the
GB tourism operator Minister: Those ‘scandalising’ me will to add 20 jobs via admit they are wrong $100k expansion !"#<)=#>&??:$> +,-./01#!/2-0122# *1;5,41, /0#,,%"0& '(#)*"+,+-#!."+'
Enterprises for $38,460 apiece were subsequently sold for $90,000 in September 2016 and June 2017, respectively, representing a 134 percent increase. Another lot, originally purchased for $38,460, sold for four times’ greater at $155,000 in October 2010. According to an affidavit of beneficial ownership filed with the Deeds and Documents section of the Registrar General’s Department on August 2, 2013, one Spence Burton Dorsett swore under oath that
A GRAND Bahama tourism operator is investing around $100,000 to launch two new guest experiences by September in an expansion expected to create 20 new jobs. David Wallace, Pirate’S Cove Zipline and Water Park’s principal, said the move will position the attraction to capitalise on increased cruise passenger arrivals as Freeport prepares for greater vessel call volume. The expansion will fund the introduction of ‘The Conch: A Taste of Grand Bahama’ and an underwater sea scooter tour, the
first phase of a broader expansion strategy aimed at diversifying Grand Bahama’s tourism offerings ahead of increased calls from major cruise operators. “We believe with the new calls that will come because of the development now of the Freeport Harbour, Royal Caribbean and MSC partnering in the harbour with them calling, bringing on more ships, we believe you’re going to need more activities for the tourists to do on the island,” Mr Wallace said. The project includes an investment of between $50,000 and $60,000 for new equipment, in
SEE GROWTH, Page 6
necessary authorities to investigate after the Government’s monthly report on public procurement for April revealed further pre-election spending that took the total outlay on building materials vouchers to more than $1.5m in two months. The April 2026 report revealed that the Ministry of Finance acquired $413,437 worth of vouchers from Freeport-based
Contractors Direct, with the $250,000 balance obtained from Premier Importers. Both purchases were made by the ‘direct award’ method, meaning there was no competitive bidding, and took place on April 13, 2026 - less than one month before the general election. The vouchers were acquired for the purpose
SEE SPENDING, Page 6