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Ex-FBI informant: ‘My legacy stands’ despite $19.2m fines t 'PSNFS #BIBNBT CSPLFS DIJFG TMBNT 4&$ AWFOEFUUB AN ex-FBI informant is asserting “my legacy stands” t 1MFEHFT UP BQQFBM GPMMPXJOH despite being hit with a com N AJOUFSFTU QFOBMUZ bined $19.155m in sanctions, interest and relinquished profits over his former Bahamian t A4IBN UP TBZ AQSPmUFE broker/dealer’s activities. Guy Gentile, whose GSPN #BIBNBT SFHJTUSBUJPO Mintbroker International By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
employed as many as 75 staff before he exited The Bahamas in 2019, continued to vent defiance in e-mailed replies to Tribune Business as he blasted US federal regulators for pursuing a “vendetta” and “sham” case against him following the latest financial penalties imposed by the south Florida federal court. Besides upholding the recommended $15.537m in profit “disgorgement” and fines, Judge Beth Bloom has now added to Mr Gentile’s punishment by approving the imposition of an additional $3.618m in interest penalties on top of that sum. The total $19.155m is now just under $1m short of the initial $20.151m that had been
sought against him by the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Mr Gentile, whose business, when located in Bay Street’s Elizabeth on Bay plaza, was used by the FBI and US law enforcement as “bait” to snare international securities fraudsters, told this newspaper he remains confident that he will overturn the verdict against him on appeal. A south Florida jury last year found Mr Gentile and his Bahamian broker/dealer, which also operated under the names ‘Sure Trader’ and ‘Swiss America Securities’, liable for violating US securities laws by actively soliciting American clients despite not
being registered with the SEC. But he is pointing out that the trading regulation central to the case against him is now being relaxed. “The SEC’s case against me is a sham, built on fabricated testimony, flawed jury instructions and a clear violation of due process,” Mr Gentile blasted, following Judge Bloom’s September 30,2025, imposition of the additional interest penalty. “It’s not justice - it’s retaliation for my outspoken criticism. “Their vindictive prosecution and baseless $3.6m ‘interest’ penalty, despite no investor harm or justifiable disgorgement, only prove their vendetta. Even FINRA
PERSEVERANCE #1 OIL RIG
GUY GENTILE agrees, voting to abolish the very rule the SEC based the entire trial on. I’m confident my appeal will overturn this verdict. “I revolutionised online trading, my legacy stands, unshaken by this political attack, and now FINRA’s rule repeal proves I was right all along.” That rule is the Pattern Day Trading rule, which limited investors with less than $25,000 in their margin account from borrowing to trade four or more times in a five-day period. FINRA
SANCTIONS - See Page B2
Minister: Redundancy insurance ‘not ready’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A CABINET minister last night said the recommendation that all Bahamian employers pay for ‘redundancy insurance’ for their staff is “not ready for implementation” and requires further consultation. Pia Glover-Rolle, minister of labour and the public service, in a message to Tribune Business, likely eased the fears of businesses who previously
branded the proposal as “dangerous” and “untenable” by saying that “we all agreed” at this week’s Town Hall meetings that it needs further work. “Redundancy insurance is one of hundreds of recommendations being considered as a part of our consultative process with all stakeholder groups. At the Town Hall meetings we held this week, we all agreed that this particular recommendation required further consultation and was not
Hospital approval was ‘foregone conclusion’ By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net NEARBY residents yesterday described as “a foregone conclusion” the swift preliminary approval granted to New Providence’s new hospital by the Town Planning Committee.
Despite homeowners in nearby communities voicing fears that flooding, noise pollution, increased traffic and a higher risk of crime made the Perpall Tract site inappropriate for the $285.25m hospital, the planning regulator yesterday announced it has granted the preliminary
MEDICAL - See Page B5
Nassau grid overhaul pace 28% ahead of projections By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE company formed to overhaul New Providence’s energy grid yesterday said it is moving “28 percent faster than planned” with at least 49,000 customers benefiting from its first six months’ work. Bahamas Grid Company, the majority private-owned special purpose vehicle financed by a $130m mix
of debt and equity funding, unveiled a progress report asserting that work performed since April 2025 has resulted in a significant reduction in outages experienced by many of Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) household and business customers. It added that 16,000 had benefited “from our load balancing activities, which ensures good power quality
ENERGY - See Page B5
ready for implementation,” she said. Describing the labour law reforms process as a “collaborative, tripartite process that the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC)” and wider private sector have “been very involved with since day one”, the minister added that the Government and policymakers “welcome the feedback” received.
COVER - See Page B7
PIA GLOVER-ROLLE
Oil explorer’s legal action threat over licence hold-ups t $IBMMFOHFS FZFT AMFHBM SFNFEJFT BHBJOTU (PW U t #BIBNBT MJDFODFT JO QMBOOFE b N BDRVJTJUJPO t "DUJWJTUT -BXTVJU UISFBUT AEPFTO U IPME XBUFS By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN OIL explorer is now threatening to sue the Government over the four-and-a-half year delay it has endured in waiting for its Bahamian licences to be renewed. Challenger Energy Group, the former Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC), this week warned it is exploring “legal remedies available against the Government of The Bahamas” after failing to obtain an answer over whether the licence renewal application will be granted. “The second exploration period of Challenger’s Bahamian licences expired on June 30, 2021,” the oil explorer recalled. “In March 2021, consistent with the terms of the licences, Challenger applied to the Government of The Bahamas to renew the licences for a third exploration period. “The Government of The Bahamas has not yet responded to this application and, given the length of time that has passed since the application was made, Challenger is presently
EXPLORE - See Page B4