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Bimini bust-up: Capo demands $600m damages from Genting By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net RESORTS World Bimini’s original developer is demanding its Genting partner pay more than $600m in damages for allegedly turning the project into a “financial wasteland” via a near-billion dollar liability “dump”. The spectacular breakdown in the long-standing relationship between Gerardo Capo’s RAV Bahamas and the multi-billion dollar Malaysian conglomerate is revealed in a lawsuit filed with the south Florida federal court on Monday, with the former asserting that “a massive and co-ordinated fraud” has left the real estate and other assets it contributed to their Bimini partnership “essentially worthless”. RAV Bahamas, which started development of the then-Bimini Bay resort in the late 1990s after
• Claims Resorts World turned into ‘financial wasteland’
RESORTS WORLD BIMINI securing a Heads of Agreement with the Ingraham administration, is essentially accusing Genting of using its 78 percent majority ownership, plus Board and management control, to conceal how it funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars in liabilities incurred elsewhere in its global empire on to the Bimini resort’s books.
Complaining that this has undermined the value of its investment, while also “depriving” it of expected profits, RAV Bahamas claimed that Genting “has deliberately kneecapped” its attempts to gain a true understanding of Resorts World Bimini’s true financial position by denying “full access” to the property’s financial
• By Malaysian partner’s nearone billion liabilities ‘dump’ • Bimini’s anchor had $694m solvency deficiency in 2022
HURRICANE Milton and the recent US dock strike have exposed the urgency with which The Bahamas must diversify its supply chain and address “the definition of insanity,” its trade chief argued yesterday. Philip Galanis, the Bahamas Trade Commission’s chairman, told Tribune Business that anticipated storm damage in Florida following so swiftly behind the now-eased threat of industrial action - showed
• Trade chair: Non-offload in GB raising prices 20% • Milton, US dock strike ‘accelerate’ new route push • Talks with Brazil over direct transportation moves why it must “accelerate” its search for new trade routes and facilitate the offloading of goods destined for this nation at the Freeport Container Port.
‘Anxious’ Dorianhit islands close commerce for Milton
He argued that the price of imported goods is being increased by as much as 20 percent through their transiting the Container Port’s transhipment facility on the way to US ports,
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
COMMERCE was yesterday said to be shutting down in Grand Bahama and Abaco as “nervous” and “anxious” residents prepared for Hurricane Milton with memories of Dorian still fresh for many. James Carey, the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce’s president, told Tribune Business there had been “a mild panic” as residents raced to stock up on essential food and other items but said he expected the storm will not do “too much worse than Grand Bahama Power Company” in terms of its impact on daily life. Grand Bahama, as well as Abaco and Bimini, are expected to fell Milton’s outer tropical storm force winds if it remains on its present track. “We are always concerned about storms,” Mr Carey said. “We’re still in shock from the numerous hurricanes we’ve had over the last 25 years. I think everyone has prepared well “It’s anticipated that we’ll have some tropical storm force gusts, which won’t impact us too much. I can’t see it doing too much worse than the Power Company has done in recent times. The way it’s going, I don’t see it being particularly impactful. I
AN ABACO resort and marina operator yesterday warned that “a lot of boaters are upset” over the newly-implemented $200 fee to extend visitor stays and the way it has been introduced. Molly McIntosh, the Bluff House Beach Resort and Marina’s owner, told Tribune Business she, too, was unaware that the Immigration Department has from September 18, 2024, imposed a non-refundable $200 per person processing fee for tourists seeking to extend their stay in The Bahamas despite the measure being unveiled in the Budget. “I wasn’t aware of it either until I saw a bunch of complaints on Facebook, and then a couple boaters contacted me by e-mail,” said Ms McIntosh. “It’s going to affect the business, I can tell you right now. A lot of boaters are upset about it. It’s going to be a problem.” She said that while the Government should collect revenue
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net PHILIP GALANIS only to then be trucked down the east coast and shipped back to The Bahamas via Florida and other ports. Branding this “the definition of insanity”, Mr Galanis told this newspaper that the Commission is also talking to Brazilian interests about creating
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‘Lot of boaters upset’ over new $200 Immigration fee
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
records and its calls for an independent audit. The financial statements for BB Entertainment, the Bahamianincorporated holding company for Resorts World Bimini, reveal that the project has consistently incurred annual losses amounting to tens of millions of dollars ever since RAV Bahamas teamed with Genting some 12 years ago in 2012. BB Entertainment’s 2022 audited financials saw the EY (Ernst & Young) accounting firm qualify the report by noting a “material uncertainty related to
Milton ‘not our first rodeo’
Tackle ‘definition of insanity’ to diversify supply chains By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
GERARDO CAPO
from visitors, she does not think the fee’s imposition will encourage tourism in the Family Islands. Ms McIntosh added that guests travelling with a family will be reluctant to pay multiple processing fees and will be deterred from extending their stay. “I don’t think it’s probably the best way to do that. I mean, I know we need money, and if the people want to come in here, we want to make sure they pay money,” said Ms McIntosh. “We want them to come here so they’re spending money, and the Government can collect the VAT on that. If they’re not here, then it’s going to be a lot more of a loss than $200. Somebody that maybe would have stayed longer might just say that it’s not worth $200 per person. “For a family of six that’s $1,200. I can do a lot with $1,200 and people from the States can do even more. Their money goes a lot further. So $1,200 is a lot.” Peter Maury, the Association of Bahamas Marinas (ABM) president, previously told Tribune Business that the sector and its
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BAHAMIAN resorts have not yet suffered “material cancellations” as a result of Hurricane Milton, a senior hotelier said yesterday, as he asserted: “This is not our first rodeo.” Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, told Tribune Business that the threat posed to the industry’s major Florida source market by the Category Five storm had coincided with the traditionally slower period in the industry’s cycle to help minimise any negative impact. He spoke as Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), Lynden
ROBERT SANDS Pindling International Airport’s (LPIA) operator, confirmed that seven flights scheduled to arrive yesterday from Florida were cancelled, including four from Orlando International Airport and three from
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