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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2024
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Bahamasair sick-out ‘couldn’t have been worse’ for its timing
‘Notable’ corruption surge amid $250m drug seizures
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE industrial action that yesterday grounded Bahamasair’s entire fleet “couldn’t have been worse” timed, tourism operators warned, with hundreds of visitors and Bahamians left stranded in the peak travel season. Kerry Fountain, the Bahama Out Island Promotion Board’s executive director, told Tribune Business that the tourism sector is “hoping and praying” the dispute between the national flag carrier and the Airport, Airline and Allied Workers Union (AAAWU) and its members is “resolved as quickly as possible” given the disruption and inconvenience caused to travellers ahead of the Christmas and New Year period. As this newspaper went to press last night it was
KERRY FOUNTAIN reported that Bahamasair secured a temporary Supreme Court injunction to halt the sick-out and force those workers involved to return to their posts. There were suggestions that the carrier may have lost up to $700,000 in revenue, not to mention reputational damage, as a result of yesterday’s enforced operational shutdown.
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DOMESTIC financial crime threats are “broadening” and “represent substantial areas of concern” after $250m worth of illegal drugs were seized in The Bahamas during the six-year period through 2022. This nation’s latest financial crime national risk assessment, newlyunveiled this month, disclosed there has been “a notable increase” in suspicious transactions reports (STRs) filed by Bahamian financial institutions and other gatekeepers in relation to suspected tax, corruption and bribery offences that have occurred in the domestic economy rather than the so-called ‘offshore’ or international sector. It added that the laundering of criminal proceeds generated by drug trafficking, human and gun smuggling, and other crimes such as ‘romance’ and employment scams was on the rise with the value of fraud cases reported to the Royal Bahamas Police Force between 2017 and 2022 hitting $35m.
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them appear legitimate poses “a major domestic threat”. Data contained in the report showed that, between 2017 and 2022, Bahamian law enforcement seized some $250m worth of illegal narcotics with close to $200m of this sum representing cocaine. The balance consisted of marijuana and hydroponic marijuana. “Based on the information received from the police and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), drug trafficking followed by fraud were the primary predicates identified as money laundering threats domestically,” The Bahamas’ national risk assessment found. “The value of drugs seized over the 2017-2022 period amounted to more than $250m. The value of fraud cases amounted to $35m. In the 20202022 period, cyber crime surpassed fraud due to the significant number of suspicious transaction reports (STRs) filed as a result of the FTX Digital Markets operations.” That entity was the Bahamian subsidiary of the collapsed FTX crypto currency exchange.
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‘High risk’ clients own over 25% of Bahamas’ accounts By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net MORE than one-quarter of all bank accounts held by Bahamas-domiciled international banks and trust companies were beneficially owned by “high risk” clients at year-end 2022, it has been revealed. The Bahamas’ financial crime national risk assessment, just unveiled this month, also disclosed that more than one out of every ten account facilities belonged to so-called ‘politically exposed persons’ or PEPs who are customers involved in high-level government affairs and deemed particularly susceptible to
involvement in bribery or corruption. “Noteworthy is the statistic that high-risk customers accounted for approximately 25.4 percent of accounts and 11 percent of relationships in the international banking sector on December 31, 2022, with PEPs accounting for 11.6 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively, reflecting a slight increase in high-risk customers,” the report revealed. “Additionally, the use of third parties/agents in the international arena presents some risks to this sector. Anti-money laundering surveys submitted annually since 2019 have
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Fossil fuel phase-out pact raises oil drilling ban hope By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net ENVIRONMENTAL activists yesterday voiced optimism that the threat of further oil exploration and drilling in this nation’s territorial waters has ceased after The Bahamas joined a pact to phase-out fossil fuel use. Casuarina McKinneyLambert, executive director of The Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF), told Tribune Business it would be “a foolish industry” for this nation to permit after the Government signed the country on to the Fossil
Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Hailing the move as “great news”, she argued that the move will “reinforce the country’s resolve” to safeguard the economy, its people and marine ecosystems from potentially devastating climate change impacts and “accelerate the transition to cleaner and renewable energy”. The Treaty, which now has 16 state signatories and members after The Bahamas and Pakistan joined yesterday, commits countries to end the global expansion of fossil fuels, pursue “a just and equitable
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