Club owner in bid to jail Bimini developers

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The owner of a beach club demolished by the Bimini Bay Resort’s developer has been given permission to apply to commit its principal, Gerardo Capo, and other executives to Fox Hill prison for alleged contempt of court.

Supreme Court documents obtained by Tribune Business reveal that Garrick Edwards, the entertainment owner/promoter behind the Sakara Beach Club, is alleging that the contempt arose from his property being destroyed while both sides were awaiting a Supreme Court judgment.

Apart from seeking a court order committing Mr Capo and his fellow RAV Bahamas and Bimini Bay Resort Management directors to Fox Hill, Mr Edwards is demanding $8.456 million in damages.

And he is also seeking a Court Order barring RAV Bahamas and its affiliates from building any structure on the former Sakara premises, or using it to operate a business.

Mr Edwards, in a December 4, 2013, affidavit, claimed he had lost his initial $1.3 million investment, and potential annual profits worth $1.5 million, as a result of Sakara’s alleged demolition.

And he alleged that the club’s demolition was designed to pave the way for RAV’s new partner, the Genting-owned Resorts World Bimini, to operate its own food and beverage facility - which opened two days after Sakara’s destruction.

“With the demolition of Sakara, my source of income and significant investment has also been destroyed, along with that of the 15 employees who worked there since its inception,” Mr Edwards alleged.

“Along with the actual structure of Sakara Beach Club being demolished, all of the equipment, utensils and inventory used to manage and operate Sakara are also destroyed or unaccounted for.”

Mr Edwards alleged that a “conservative” financial model produced by accountants had estimated Sakara would generate $1.5 million in annual net profits.

“Additionally, we invested approximately $1.298 million on the front end as per the lease agreement for construction, finishings, point of sale system, landscaping and shipping/handling ($150,000),” he added.

“Our missing inventory, other equipment, additional construction and equipment ($40,000), start-up costs for operators ($150,000), housing in Bimini Bay for operators ($858,000) and further injections for operations to cover withheld funds by RAV Bahamas has all gone to naught.”

Mr Edwards and Bimini Bay’s developers had entered into a lease agreement, whereby Sakara would operate from the resort premises and pay rent for doing so, on December 31, 2011.

Yet RAV Bahamas, in March 2013, filed a Supreme Court action seeking a declaration that the Sakara lease was “null and void”, and that Mr Edwards had to vacate the premises.

The grounds for the application were that Mr Edwards, as a foreign investor, had failed to obtain all the necessary government approvals and permits, and was thus in non-compliance with the International Persons Landholding Act.

The matter was heard before Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett on May 31, 2013, with RAV Bahamas’ offers to ‘buy out’ the lease deemed unacceptable by Mr Edwards.

One meeting, between Mr Edwards and Mr Capo, to discuss a settlement was allegedly set up, and attended, by Leslie Bethel, son of Prime Minister Perry Christie’s investment ‘guru’, Sir Baltron Bethel, and then a RAV Bahamas executive.

While waiting for the Chief Justice’s verdict, RAV Bahamas’ attorney, Ferron Bethell at Harry B. Sands & Lobosky, wrote to Mr Edwards on June 24 alleging that he was in breach of several conditions of the lease agreement.

He and Sakara were given 30 days to remedy the breach but, 25 days after the letter was written, the beach club was allegedly demolished upon RAV Bahamas’ instructions.

The demolition, on July 18, came almost two months before the Chief Justice delivered his ruling, which found in favour of Mr Edwards/Sakara.

It is the demolition’s timing that has provoked the contempt of court action. Indeed, Mr Edwards’ attorney Mario Gray, on July 22, wrote to Mr Bethell arguing that Sir Michael had “made it very clear the status quo was to remain the same until completion of this matter.

“Your client, however, seems to believe that they are above the laws of our country and can do whatever it is they feel or wish without regard to the rules of the law and/or the negative effects their actions have directly on Bahamian families,” Mr Gray wrote.

“Your client’s actions have resulted in the immediate unemployment of some 15 workers and the total revenue generating ability of our client.”

Mr Gray, in his court filings on Mr Edwards’s behalf, alleged that the demolition was designed to prevent his client gaining the benefit of Sir Michael’s ruling.

And he further claimed that RAV Bahamas knew “it would be difficult if not impossible” for Sakara to be rebuilt within the time period set by the lease, this placing his client in default.

“On Saturday, July 20, within 48 hours of the demolition of Sakara, [RAV Bahamas] along with Resorts World Bimini, or at their insistence, opened a similar food and beverage facility to that of Sakara less than 1,000 feet away from where Sakara stood,” Mr Edwards alleged in his affidavit.

“It was said that was done so as to accommodate guests brought into North Bimini’s Bimini Bay Resort by the Resorts World Bimini’s SuperFast ferry.”

Mr Edwards then alleged he felt it was RAV Bahamas’, and Resorts World’s intention “to not have me there permanently.

“I was only the bait to get Resorts World in the door and thereafter as a real-time test of the potential of Sakara for the purposes of building a business model of the entity that they now operate in its place,” he claimed.

Mr Edwards alleged that Sakara would ultimately have reverted to Bimini Bay’s ownership, and said RAV Bahamas had made no effort to either rebuild it or contact him.

And he claimed that Resorts World Bimini’s operation of its own beach facility violated his lease agreement.

Apart from Mr Capo himself, other RAV Bahamas and Bimini Bay Resort Management executives subject to the action include his two son-in-laws, Rafael Reyes and Sean Grimsberg, and son Alejandro Capo.

Comments

proudloudandfnm says...

Yes man. Lock Capo the hell up!!! Many many Bahamians would be extremely happy about that both in Bimini and in Nassau......

Posted 9 January 2014, 12:49 p.m. Suggest removal

Thinker says...

Awesome! That's where criminals belong, in Fox Hill. Get Capo the hell out of Bahamas after he does some hard time. Once again, government needs to stop allowing foreigners to come in and just muck up the place. Where the heck are the colonial Bahamian building codes anyway? Is there anyone who cares what this place is starting to look like?

Posted 9 January 2014, 1:23 p.m. Suggest removal

Thinker says...

This sounds similar to what Atlantis did to the Hurricane hole Plaza!! But Atlantis, oh yeah, they "employ people". The more that I think about it, it's quite evident that gov't doesn't give a damn about small businesses.

Posted 9 January 2014, 1:28 p.m. Suggest removal

BiminiHomeowner says...

LOCK THEM UP!!!

Capo and Reyes deserve to be behind bars, for MANY reasons.

Posted 9 January 2014, 8:52 p.m. Suggest removal

Rayhannah says...

Ya Know it's like foreigne investers same like once they are allow to open a business in a third world country , they own it and they can do what they want and how they want it done it's been happening in my Bahamas for a very long , long time , no matter what govement is in power at the time , they just fall in line with letting them do what ever they want , We as a people need to stand together , because when the foreigner brings his money and kill out all our natural elements they will depart leaving us with ??????????????????? Capo and his company are that kind of foreigne business people , they feel as now they own the Bahamas and we the peolple of the Bahamas have no right over him ..I'm out of a job because of what was done with Sakara and the Biminibay Resort will not give me a job ..Mr. Edwards looked out for the lesser people on the island of Bimini , the people that the resort will not give a job for what ever reason .I wanted to work , I needed a Job I went to Mr. Edwards and all he asked me is what can I do in the restaurant I told him and BINGO I had a job ..God Help Us

Posted 10 January 2014, 10:48 a.m. Suggest removal

proudloudandfnm says...

Did Atlantis bulldoze Hurricane Hole? Cause I was just there a while back and everything seems ok?

Posted 13 January 2014, 9:54 a.m. Suggest removal

concernedcitizen says...

Atlantis took down the plaza where News cafe was , they owned the land ,,,,

Posted 13 January 2014, 10:49 a.m. Suggest removal

B_I_D___ says...

From what I understand, they were going to put up more timeshares in that space where the plaza was, but then the economy took a downturn so the plans were scrapped before they broke ground on the rebuild.

Posted 13 January 2014, 11:03 a.m. Suggest removal

discouraged says...

The sad part of this entire situation is how Bimini's local government, police and even member of parliament Obie Wilchcombe has done nothing or same to care to do anything after what was an obvious disrespect to the laws of the Bahamas. How can the high court in the Bahamas make a ruling and then the individual or party decide I don't care what they say, I will do what I want anyway. Then feel they should suffer no consequences of their actions. They also did this like a thief in the night, destroying Sakara at 4am and two days before The Resorts World cruise ship first arrived. Fifteen employees were immediately stripped of their jobs, 13 of which are Biminites, and were left with no explanation or no recourse to the actions done by RAV Bahamas. At some point foreign investors have to respect the country, it's laws and it's citizens, despite the millions of dollars they are investing. Ralph Reyes has continuously shown his contempt for Bahamian laws and it has to be fueled by the powers to be to make him feel he can do as he wants in Bimini.

Posted 13 January 2014, 2:53 p.m. Suggest removal

kbambar says...

Where is the follow up? Are these guys in jail yet or did money payoff the courts once again. Come on Tribune please stay on these guys as well as the pier that Genting/Capo is pushing for. This must be stopped.

Posted 4 February 2014, 10:44 p.m. Suggest removal

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