business@tribunemedia.net
TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2025
$5.48 $5.09
$5.50
$5.56
$5.48
Two murders, Customs fraud and ‘many impossible things’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A SUPREME Court judge had “to believe many impossible things” in a multi-million luxury goods battle featuring two murders - including that of an exCabinet minister’s husband - and likely Customs fraud. Justice Loren Klein, in an August 5, 2025, verdict said he had “great difficulty in accepting at face value anything said” by the parties fighting over millions of dollars worth of stock left behind by Treasures Bahamas, the jewellery and luxury goods retail chain
• Judge ‘can’t believe anything’ in diamonds dispute • Case tied to ex-Cabinet minister’s husband slaying • Customs ‘red flag’ over luxury goods tax evasion that was headed by the late Leon Griffin. Both Mr Griffin, former Bahamas Taxi Cab Union president and husband of ex-Cabinet minister, Melanie Griffin, and his business partner, accountant
Biswajit Pati, were slain within months of each other in December and August 2021, respectively, and Justice Klein - noting they “met their demise in suspicious circumstances” - said this further
added to the “bizarre” nature of the case. His latest Treasures Bahamasrelated verdict required him to determine the disputed ownership of four loose diamonds that were “caught up in a seize and search” Order granted by the Supreme Court in July 2023. The Order was obtained by Satish Daryanani, principal of Miami-based Sovereign Jewelry, one of the former suppliers to Treasures Bahamas and the late Mr Griffin. Tribune Business revealed in July 2021 that Mr Daryanani had launched a $34m Supreme Court legal claim against Mr Griffin,
DIAMONDS - See Page B2
JUSTICE LOREN KLEIN
LEON GRIFFIN
BTC ‘poised for growth’ amid $9.2m revenue fall Judge eliminates ‘Funky’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) top executive yesterday said the carrier is “poised for growth” despite a $9.2m year-overyear decline in its first-half revenue. Sameer Bhatti, its chief executive, told Tribune Business that “the underlying organic business is healthy” after it was revealed that BTC’s revenues for the six months to end-June 2025 were down 8.6 percent compared to the same period in 2024. BTC’s half-year revenue fall, from $106.9m in 2024 to $97.7m this year, was largely triggered by a $6.5m year-over-year drop for the 2025 second quarter. Top-line income for the three months to end-June
SAMEER BHATTI 2025 fell by 11.7 percent, dropping from $55.6m to $49.1m this time around. Mr Bhatti, though, told this newspaper that the revenue slippage - revealed in financial statements for BTC’s ultimate parent, Liberty Latin America was more “an apparent decline” than an actual one. He added that the carrier’s performance this
Spanish Wells power provider willing to expand to Eleuthera By ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporter anixon@tribunemedia.net THE energy provider for Spanish Wells and other islands off Eleuthera yesterday confirmed it is willing to supply the mainland and Harbour Island’s but the Government must “get on board”. Morris Pinder, president and general manager for St George’s Cay Power Company (SGCPC), which also supplies Russell Island, West End Cay, Charles Cay and Royal Island, said it is still open to expanding its services and “logistically, all things are possible”. Recalling that Harbour Island once “petitioned” the Power Company to provide electricity to it, he added that ultimately any decision on whether it does so rests with industry regulator, the Utilities Regulation & Competition Authority (URCA). “There would have to be a cable run from us to the mainland, and then a new cable would have to be run to Harbour Island because it was the people actually in Harbour Island who had petitioned us,
GRID - See Page B5
• First-half decline due to ‘stellar 2024’ • Carrier moving from ‘telco to techco’ • ‘New revenue streams’ set to kick-in year is up against tough comparatives following a “tremendous” 2024 that benefited from “lumpy” income inflows especially during the first quarter and first half. Asserting that BTC is “evolving from a telco to a techco”, or a legacy
telecommunications provider to a full-service technology company, Mr Bhatti said the “large projects” and completed initiatives that drove the 2024 first half performance will generate “new revenue streams” that are more durable going forward. With these income flows set to kick-in, he predicted that the 2025 first half’s year-over-year revenue decline is unlikely to represent a trend and the final six months will likely bring BTC back in line with topline performance from prior years. “Some people will call it a decline, but it’s an apparent decline,” Mr Bhatti asserted of the 2025 firsthalf. “What it is, we have two factors. The phasing of some large complex projects - and some of those
CARRIER - See Page B4
Construction ‘free for all’ until Board takes effect By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net AN ex-Bahamas Chamber of Commerce chairman yesterday warned that construction will remain a “free for all” until the industry’s long-promised selfregulation and licensing regime takes full effect. Robert Myers, also a former Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA) president, told Tribune Business that both the Board to oversee the Construction Contractors Act’s implementation, and the law itself, should have been brought into effect “15-20 years” ago to protect Bahamian consumers from shoddy workmanship and price gouging. Speaking after the Prime Minister met with current BCA executives to pledge that the Board will be appointed by the first week in September, if not sooner, he argued that those opposed to such a move - and the contractor licensing and certification regime it will initiate - are “probably people who have no
business being in ROBERT MYERS the construction industry in the first place”. Besides enhancing consumer protection, and giving Bahamians a readily accessible mechanism for redressing grievances with contractors, Mr Myers told this newspaper that by licensing contractors and trades persons according to the type and scale of work they can produce, the construction industry will be better able to compete with overseas rivals for work on foreign direct investment (FDI) projects. “It’s a manifestly important step for the country and particularly the consumer,” he added of the need to end the nine-year wait for the Board’s appointment and self-regulation. “The consumer has very little protection in terms of qualified and competent contractors. “We should have had this Act in place 15-20 years ago, and the Board in place, and contractor education in place, and
BUILDING - See Page B4
obstacle to Junkanoo Beach redevelopment By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A SUPREME Court judge has cleared the way for Junkanoo Beach’s redevelopment by eliminating an injunction obtained by the developer/owner of a proposed bar for that location. Justice Loren Klein, in a July 25, 2025, verdict revealed how Kevin Alexander Holden, owner of Funky Monkey, received conflicting and contradictory instructions from two separate government ministries on whether he should proceed with constructing his proposed bar at the site located just to the west of The Pointe development. After Mr Holden was instructed by the Department of Physical Planning to halt all work on March 13, 2018, he sought and obtained a Supreme Court injunction blocking the Ministry of Tourism and
Aviation, which has oversight of Junkanoo Beach, from “disturbing or interfering” with what little construction work he had performed so that the “status quo” was maintained. However, the Attorney General’s Office, acting as the Government’s legal counsel, successfully persuaded Justice Klein to discharge the injunction and “strike out” both the Funky Monkey owner’s original claim and bid to convert it into a standard claim form in compliance with the Supreme Court’s new civil procedure rules. Warren Johnson, in affidavit evidence on the Government’s behalf, had asserted that the injunction had blocked the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation’s redevelopment plan for Junkanoo Beach that included new vendor stalls compliant with Ministry of
PERMITS - See Page B5