By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A well-known QC last night accused Sarkis Izmirlian of mounting “a last ditch effort to obstruct” the potential resolution of the $3.5 billion Baha Mar impasse.

Wayne Munroe QC, who represents the Gaming Board and other government entities in the Baha Mar matter, said the project’s original developer was “grasping at straws” with his latest legal manoeuvres.

He was speaking after Mr Izmirlian filed a Supreme Court summons that seeks permission to both “accelerate” moves to place Baha Mar into full liquidation, and to replace the National Insurance Board (NIB) as the winding-up petitioner with his Granite Ventures vehicle.

Mr Izmirlian said he was again acting in the best interests of Baha Mar’s 3,000-plus unsecured Bahamian creditors, including contractors, vendors and staff, but Mr Munroe implied that other motives were behind the move.

He suggested that Baha Mar’s original developer was trying to make life difficult for the project’s Deloitte & Touche receivers, and attempting to block the selection of a preferred bidder to buy the $3.5 billion development.

Describing Mr Izmirlian’s latest gambit as a legal ‘long shot’, Mr Munroe told Tribune Business: “It’s grasping at straws.

“It’s a last ditch effort. They are no doubt of the view that the property is close to being sold, and they are just trying to be obstructive.

Mr Munroe said that with all interested parties required to submit bids to Baha Mar’s receivers by May 10, the Deloitte & Touche team of local managing partner, Raymond Winder, and two Hong Kong-based accountants, would likely be close to completing their evaluations of the offers.

And, recalling Prime Minister Perry Christie’s comments this week that he anticipated a Baha Mar resolution shortly, Mr Munroe added: “I expect they’re at the point of choosing somebody and working out the terms.”

Tribune Business sources close to Baha Mar developments last week said the receivers were leaning towards one of the two shortlisted bidders as the preferred offer.

The two remaining bid groups are thought to include Macau gambling magnate, Stanley Ho, on one side, and Mr Izmirlian’s fellow Lyford Cay-based billionaire, Joe Lewis, and his Tavistock Group, the Albany developers, on the other.

Mr Munroe, meanwhile, dismissed Mr Izmirlian’s claim that his latest Supreme Court move was intended to benefit all creditors, branding it as “selfishness”.

“It’s selfishness that put themselves in this position, and he’s not thinking about what’s in the best interests of creditors,” the QC added.

“There are many technical reasons it’s [the new action] a non-starter in my view, and many substantive reasons it wouldn’t get anywhere.”

Outlining those reasons, Mr Munroe said Mr Izmirlian knew he had allowed the China Export-Import Bank to take all of Baha Mar’s assets as security for its $2.45 billion financing, meaning there was nothing “that doesn’t belong to the bank” or its receivers.

He then challenged Granite Ventures’ assertion that it was an unsecured Baha Mar creditor, pointing that this stemmed from providing the project with operational financing during its stay in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Mr Munroe, though, questioned whether the Government - via the National Economic Council (NEC) and the Central Bank - gave permission for Granite Ventures, as a foreign-owned and domiciled entity, to make that foreign currency loan.

If it did not, he suggested the whole basis for Granite Ventures’ claim was undermined, as it was a “non-sanctioned” loan.

Mr Izmirlian’s latest legal move appears to be a variation on Granite Ventures’ previous bid to acquire the rights to Baha Mar’s $192 million claim against its contractor’s parent, which was rejected by the Supreme Court.

He is once again presenting himself as the ‘champion’ of Bahamian creditors’ interests, arguing that neither the receivers, not the joint provisional liquidators, have the inclination or wherewithal to do so.

In particular, Mr Izmirlian is arguing that Deloitte & Touche, as the China Export-Import Bank’s court-approved agents, will act predominantly in Chinese interests as opposed to those of the Bahamian creditors.

And the joint provisional liquidators, Bahamian accountant Ed Rahming, and the UK duo of Alastair Beveridge and Nicholas Cropper, have not been empowered with the funding necessary for them to properly fulfill their role.

Several observers have suggested that if the Christie administration wants to see more rapid progress on a Baha Mar resolution, it should finance the joint provisional liquidators, and provide them with the required funding.

Tribune Business sources, meanwhile, have disclosed that the only reason the joint provisional liquidation has remained in place is to protect the China Export-Import Bank and its receivers from any lawsuits filed by unsecured creditors.

In effect, by extending the joint provisional liquidation indefinitely, the Government and its agencies are buying time for the Chinese and Deloitte & Touche to determine, and resolve, Baha Mar’s fate without any major legal impediments.

The timing of Mr Izmirlian’s new manoeuvre is also probably not coincidental, given the recent $192 million claim rejection, and the fact it is now just over one year since the National Insurance Board (NIB) and other government agencies petitioned to wind-up Baha Mar.

Should he and Granite Ventures succeed, the appointment of two Ernst & Young accountants would at least wrest partial control of Baha Mar’s fate from the Chinese and their receivers.

But, in adding a layer of oversight to Deloitte & Touche’s activities, it may also disrupt any Baha Mar sales process and selection of a preferred bidder, further delaying a resolution.

At the very least, Mr Izmirlian’s latest move may ‘force the pace’ with the receivers, pushing them to identify and name a preferred bidder, and conclude negotiations with that party, more rapidly.

Mr Winder and the receivers’ attorneys, Lennox Paton, did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment last night. Nor did Mr Rahming.