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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2024
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‘Magic mushrooms’ defendant BOB beats late Galleria chief’s suffers FTX victim lawsuit fizzle By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
• Pledged to sue SBF, directors A “MAGIC mushrooms” codefendant cited multiple attempts for free to poison him as just one of numerous bizarre explanations for why he failed to deliver a Bahamian lawsuit • Blamed failure on behalf of FTX victims. Jan Biere, a Dutch national with on ‘poisoning’, permanent residency in The Bahamas, variously blamed a $34,000 tax ‘gas bomb’ bill from The Netherlands’ revenue authorities; burns and other injuries • Attorney says suffered in an alleged “gas bomb” explosion; and efforts by his parentsscheme ‘died in-law to gain custody of his daughter for why he was unable to initiate natural death’ promised “free” litigation against Sam Bankman-Fried and other directors over FTX’s implosion. He also asserted that the FTX cofounder’s associates had taken over the property next door to his Coral Harbour home as a base for several alleged “assassination attempts” against himself and his family, “throwing poison on my borders close to my windows”. Nothing was provided to substantiate the claims, which were greeted with scepticism by the crypto exchange’s former clients and creditors.
Tribune Business has obtained numerous videos and Telegram messages detailing how, in the aftermath of FTX’s November 2022 collapse, Mr Biere seized upon events to promise FTX victims that himself and Bahamian attorney, Philip Lundy, would initiate criminal lawsuits in this nation’s courts against Mr Bankman-Fried and the other directors for “no upfront costs”. The Dutch national, who did not appear alongside his wife, Elike
Hollink, when she recently pled not guilty to dangerous drugs charges because he is presently in Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre, said himself, Mr Lundy and other unnamed attorneys purportedly working on the FTX cases would work for free and take their compensation as 10 percent of whatever they recovered on behalf of victims. However, within three days of making these pledges Mr Biere was online trying to solicit “an extra $20,000” from FTX victims - some of whom had lost access to most, if not all, their life’s savings and investments - to help finance the legal work. The abrupt “u-turn” prompted multiple questions from alreadysceptical and nervous FTX customers, who challenged the failure to file the criminal actions in the Bahamian courts by the promised date. They also queried the failure to provide proper legal contracts that would verify they were Mr Lundy’s clients and that he was acting for them in initiating legal action. Mr Biere’s response was to accuse all questioners of being agents for Mr Bankman-Fried and FTX, and to block them from the Telegram
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Bahamians losing trust over transparency flaws By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Opposition’s finance spokesman yesterday argued The Bahamas has already reached the point where citizens are losing trust in institutions as he urged “fundamental change” in governance. Kwasi Thompson, the east Grand Bahama MP, told Tribune Business that the lack of transparency in government decision-making and policy implementation was “breeding distrust” in Bahamian democracy and governance processes and needs to be reversed to restore public faith.
KWASI THOMPSON Arguing that the Davis administration appears not to be treating the creation of an Integrity Commission, full implementation of the Freedom
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‘Boom town’ needed to absorb GB Power rise By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net GRAND Bahama Power Company was yesterday urged to provide “greater disclosure” so consumers can have a better understanding of the justification for its proposed three-year rate structure. James Carey, Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce president, told Tribune Business it was critical that businesses and residents have a full appreciation of the utility’s financial performance and whether it has consistently been enduring annual losses given that it wants customers to finance its five-year,
$76.6m capital investment plan via rate hikes. He added that Grand Bahama could “easily absorb” the new rate structure, which calls for a maximum increase in all-in electricity costs of between 4.05 percent and 4.52 percent in 2026 compared to 2023’s rates, if it becomes “a boom town” but, in the economy’s present condition, it could represent a further setback. Questioning why GB Power seems to be 100 percent reliant on its customers to finance capital improvements, as opposed to using its retained earnings and financing from its 100 percent owner, Emera,
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$1.5m strike-out By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BANK of The Bahamas’ bid to collect on a $1.5m loan debt owed by the late Chris Mortimer and his now-defunct Galleria Cinemas has survived efforts to strike it out in the Supreme Court. Justice Neil Brathwaite, in an August 20, 2024, verdict rule against claims by the former Democratic National Alliance (DNA) deputy leader, who passed last year, and his companies that the BISX-listed lender plunged the group into financial turmoil by “unlawfully withholding” as collateral a 50 percent ownership interest in his restaurant business. Bank of The Bahamas, which is more than 82 percent owned by the Government via the Public Treasury and National Insurance Board (NIB), had initiated legal action against Mr Mortimer and his companies to recover the $1.5m advance on November 20, 2020.
CHRIS MORTIMER The loan, made to Galleria Cinemas before it closed its doors in April 2022 due to COVID-19’s devastating impact on its business operations, was guaranteed by Mr Mortimer personally and his other companies Island Bloom Restaurant and Grand Bahama Theatres. Research showed Island Bloom is the holding entity for the Outback Steakhouse restaurant, which was also located at the Mall at Marathon. However, prior to his passing and Galleria’s shutdown, the former DNA
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