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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2025
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funeral home Fronting ‘thrown in your Top among targets on face’ in some industries tax auction drive t &Y NJOJTUFS TBZT QSBDUJDF AEFQSJWFT #BIBNBT PG QSPmUT HSPXUI FRONTING “deprives” The Bahamas of much- t $JUFT #BZ 4USFFU SFUBJM BT TFDUPS needed growth and XIFSF UIFSF T NBOZ ASVNCMJOHT development, an exCabinet minister blasted yesterday, adding that the t #SBOET JT BT AMB[Z XBZ UP DJSDVNWFOU practice is “thrown in your face” in some industries. /BUJPOBM *OWFTUNFOU 1PMJDZ Dionisio D’Aguilar, By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
former minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business that such arrangements - where Bahamians act as the ‘front’ for foreign investors so the latter can secretly operate businesses in areas of the economy reserved solely for 100 percent local ownership - inevitably sucks all the profits out of this nation as the overseas owners seek to make “the quickest buck”. This, he added, results in The Bahamas losing
DIONISIO D’AGUILAR
monies that would otherwise be reinvested in the local economy to generate more jobs and boost living standards. Slamming ‘fronting’ as “a lazy way to circumvent the well-intentioned” National Investment Policy, Mr D’Aguilar said foreign investors are also less inclined to seek new growth and expansion opportunities within The Bahamas.
Asserting that “there’s no doubt” the practice is retading The Bahamas’ growth and national development, the Superwash chief conceded that it has been a practice “from time immemorial” but told this newspaper: “Fronting is really a lazy way to circumvent a well-intentioned law (National Investment Policy).
A TOP Harbour Island resort is enduring a Boardroom split amid an escalating dispute with its condominium owners who have obtained the Supreme Court’s permission to pursue a claim for “oppression”. Sir Ian Winder, in a September 8, 2025, verdict found that Harbour Island Villas Phase I and Phase II Management Company,
which operates and manages the 41 condo units at Valentine’s Resort & Marina, has the necessary standing to initiate such action against the hotel’s ownership and Board over claims that “deducted” monies are not being used for their intended purpose. The condo owners are alleging that Valentine’s ownership and management allowed the resort’s Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) arrears to increase three-fold over the fivemonth period to January
2024, rising from $36,055 to almost $142,000, despite collecting 85 percent of the bill from themselves via deductions from their share of the rental revenue generated by their units They are further claiming that Valentine’s again failed to pay the BPL due for June 2024, with arrears hitting $90,011 as at September 1 last year. Resort management and ownership have also been accused of “skipping” monthly insurance premium payments on
policies covering the 41 condo units, beginning in November 2023, and failing to pay Harbour Island Villas’ $150,000 “contingency fund assessment”. Valentine’s ownership and management asserted that the $150,000 “assessment” was subsequently paid on January 3, 2025, but the condo owners also alleged that around $140,000 in contributions due to the Bahama Out Island Promotion Board
RULING - See Page B5
Nassau resident to pay $9.3m penalties over SEC’s lawsuit By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A NASSAU resident and founder of a Bahamasheadquartered investment firm yesterday agreed to pay $9.31m in penalties to settle claims he made “material misrepresentations” to investors. Tomislav ‘Tom’ Vukota, who is alleged to have lived in the Bahamian capital since 2017, settled the lawsuit launched against himself and two of his investment management firms, one of which
is domiciled in The Bahamas, “without admitting or denying the allegations” by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) that he “received more than $6.9m of ill-gotten proceeds” due to his actions. Research by Tribune Business showed that VCM Global Asset Management, the Bahamian-domiciled firm, lists its address as Suite 706 at the Albany Financial Centre located in south-western New Providence. Founded in 2010, its Linkedin page asserts that it “focuses on alternative
SANCTIONS - See Page B7
A TOP Bahamian funeral home was among the businesses and properties targeted for signage by the Department of Inland Revenue warning they were in danger of being auctioned off over tax delinquency. Restview Memorial Mortuary & Crematorium was among those initially targeted by the Bahamian tax authority’s power of sale enforcement, but the sign posted outside its property was later removed after its moved to resolve the tax arrears. John Williams, the Department of Inland Revenue’s spokesman, confirmed to Tribune Business that the signs were erected earlier this month as part
of the agency’s ongoing tax enforcement and compliance efforts against properties in arrears on real property tax payments. “We spoke to the owner and they came in and made arrangements for their account, and subsequently the sign was removed by the department,” said Mr Williams. “Beginning September 1, we placed signs on that property and several others and, once property owners come in and make arrangements, then we would go ahead and remove the signs.” The sign, placed outside Restview’s and other properties, warned they had been identified for possible power of sale action. The Department of Inland Revenue began exercising its power of sale
SIGNS - See Page B7
PRACTICE - See Page B6
Briland resort’s Board split on condo owner ‘oppression’ bid By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
‘Unpleasant news’: Resorts World staff warned to vacate By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BIMINI’S largest employer was yesterday urged to “step up to the plate” and ensure the 150200 staff members it has asked to move by month’s end find adequate alternative accommodation. Omar Isaacs, the Free National Movement (FNM) candidate for West Grand Bahama and Bimini, called on Resorts World Bimini to safeguard the welfare of employees it has asked to leave resort-provided
dormitories by end-September in a move the hotel operator admitted “is not pleasant news” for those impacted. The Opposition’s general election, asserting his belief that “the workers were not treated with respect”, said the reasons for Resorts World’s issuance of the vacation notice were “unclear” to both himself and staff. Given the lack of suitable alternatives on Bimini, due to a limited residential housing stock, he warned that the resort’s
NOTICE - See Page B6