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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2022
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Bank client switch raises questions By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A CENTRAL Bank-appointed administrator has transferred former Lucayas Bank (PIB) clients, and their assets, to another Bahamas-based institution whose ultimate principal has since been charged with bribery in the US. Julio Herrera Velutini, the financier who controls and owns a majority interest in UK-headquartered Britannia Financial Group, parent of Britannia Bank & Trust, is accused of attempting to bribe a former candidate for Puerto Rico governor in a bid to ensure his preferred financial services regulator was installed in the US territory. The indictment against Mr Velutini, who has pleaded not guilty and is
• Regulators silent on Britannia choice for Lucayas assets • Former’s ultimate principal charged with bribery in US vehemently denying all allegations against him, was disclosed just three months after Lucayas clients were informed by Igal Wizman, the EY (Ernst & Young) accountant and partner, that their assets were being sold to the Venezuelan’s Britannia Bank & Trust. Mr Wizman, who did not respond to a Tribune Business e-mail seeking comment, told Lucayas clients via a May 2, 2022, notice that he was “working towards an expedited closing of the sale” to Britannia on or before May 16. “I can confirm that the bank’s assets under management
portfolio has been sold to Britannia Bank & Trust, the origins of which in The Bahamas dates back to 1997,” the EY accountant wrote. “Britannia, which principally provides similar wealth management services as Lucayas.... is a subsidiary of Britannia Financial Group, a privately-owned holding company headquartered in London with a network of entities offering investment banking, securities, brokerage, asset and wealth management, banking and trust products and services in major financial centres.
“The sale of the bank’s assets under management portfolio has been carried out in accordance with a process approved and overseen by the Central Bank of The Bahamas and continues to be in the best interest of its customers and stakeholders.” Lucayas is now in liquidation, with Mr Wizman having advertised for creditor claims. The Central Bank used its enhanced powers under the recently-reformed Central Bank Act to appoint Mr Wizman as statutory administrator of Lucayas Bank, the former Private Investment Bank (PIB), on October 27, 2021, after the regulator became concerned its new owners had not lived up to commitments to recapitalise the institution with equity cash. That is being vigorously disputed before the Supreme Court.
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Ex-minister’s son denies land fraud By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER Cabinet minister’s son yesterday vehemently denied allegations that he played a key role in a land fraud conspiracy involving two Exuma cays worth a combined $29m.
Andrew Allen told Tribune Business he felt Chief Justice Ian Winder was “very, very wrong” in finding that his clients, Gardie Nixon and Samuel Burrows, had perpetrated a Quieting Titles Act fraud by failing to disclose all key facts when they obtained documentary ownership to Lumber Cay and Jim Cay
on July 18, 2017 (see other article on Page 1B). Besides acting as the duo’s attorney in the quieting action, Mr Allen was also alleged by the executors of Gardie’s father’s estate to have represented the US investor to whom both cays were on-sold for a collective $1.8m - just 6.2 percent of their $29m appraised value.
However, the late Sir William Allen’s son retorted that his clients did not know about the will said to have been left by Gardie’s late father, King. This will, and the failure to disclose its existence in making the Quieting Titles Act application, was central to the
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Union chief hails ‘very good Gov’t marriage’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A TRADE union leader yesterday hailed “the very good marriage” that presently exists between the Government and organised labour, adding: “We’re trying to get our country back to where it used to be.” Obie Ferguson, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president, told Tribune Business that the Davis administration had to-date “pretty much” exceeded
OBIE FERGUSON
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Title fraud blocks $29m Exuma deal By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE purchase of two Exuma cays, worth a collective $29m, by a US investor has been overturned by the Supreme Court which found the Bahamian vendors obtained ownership of the islands via fraud. Chief Justice Ian Winder, in a September 12, 2022, verdict, ruled that Gardie Nixon and Samuel Burrows had abused the Quieting Titles Act to obtain the original certificate of title to Lumber Cay and Jim Cay and that this “must be set aside”. Slamming the “falsehoods” and “deliberate concealment” employed by the duo to obtain title to the islands, which was granted by the Supreme Court via a different case on July 18, 2017, the Chief Justice said the fraud meant the later sale of both islands to companies owned by a
Virginia-based developer, David Tilton, was “null and void”. His verdict, which has been seen by Tribune Business, detailed allegations that the two islands were sold to Mr Tilton for a combined $1.8m - a sum equivalent to just 6.2 percent of their combined appraised value. Lumber Cay, in particular, was said to have been appraised at $20m alone, and offers a prime real estate/tourism development opportunity as a 30-acre parcel located just 700 feet south of Staniel Cay, the renowned boating and second home destination. The Chief Justice also reproduced legal documents claiming that the same attorney, Andrew Allen, son of late finance minister, Sir William Allen, represented both Gardie Nixon and Samuel Burrows in the
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Key City Markets pension asset faces decade tie-up By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A TRUSTEE for City Markets employee pension fund yesterday warned that the dispute over its main asset “must be resolved out-of-court” otherwise it will be tied up in litigation for another decade or more. Dennis Williams, the former Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BVEWU) chief, who is now an attorney, said the trustees’ position over the sale of the former City Markets
headquarters building and warehouse on East-West Highway had not shifted for eight years. Responding to Tribune Business questions, he wrote in a brief e-mail: “As you know I am counsel and the matters are before the court. I will only state the following: Litigation in the press, half truths, spin doctoring and intellectual dishonesty by any party has not yielded any resolve to the matters at hand.
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