By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FINANCE Minister K Peter Turnquest yesterday confirmed some $175,000 in customs duties owed by Fyre Festival organisers for imported food and water have been settled.

However, he said he was still making inquiries concerning a reference to Bahamian officials made by an event producer in a recent documentary.

Andy King - in a new Netflix documentary “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” - stressed organisers became hard pressed for funding in the weeks before the festival, stating: “I had the head of the Bahamian tourism board, the minister of finance, and the head of The University of Bahamas waiting for a million dollars that they wanted to be paid.”

Mr King does not clarify his claims, nor is it made clear in the documentary whether references to outstanding debts, cash payments to officials, or other claims made in the film were fact-checked. He does not refer to these officials by name and it is not clear who he meant. In a statement released yesterday, UB said its president, Dr Rodney Smith, was taking legal advice on appropriate action in response to claims, and denied being directly or indirectly involved in the festival.

Yesterday, Mr Turnquest said: “When I came to office, this had become one of the issues on my desk almost immediately. They had some stage equipment and electronic equipment in Exuma under bond owned by some production company in FL. Before I let them return that, they had to pay what they owed on food and water duties.”

He continued: “We got our money, about $175k. This thing about a million outstanding, I’m making some inquiries.”

In 2017, Tribune Business reported on the Department of Customs’ seizure of $10 million of equipment imported for the ill-fated Fyre Festival until thousands of dollars in outstanding taxes were paid.

Mr Turnquest did not disclose the amount owed at the time; however, equipment co-owner Luca Sabatini, of Unreal-Systems, pegged the customs duties owed by Fyre Festival founders Ja Rule and Billy McFarland at $390,000.

Speaking on funding issues in the documentary, Mr King further claimed he was asked by McFarland to perform sexual favours on a Department of Customs official in exchange for the release of imported water. Mr King states import fees owed were $175k.

“Billy called and said ‘Andy we need you to take one big thing for the team,’” Mr King recalled.

“And I said, ‘oh my gosh I’ve been taking something for the team everyday’ and he said, ‘well you’re our wonderful gay leader and we need you to go down, will you suck d—- to fix this water problem?’”

Mr King continued: “I literally drove home, took a shower, I drank some mouth wash, and I got into my car to drive across the island to take one for the team. I got to his office fully prepared to suck his d—-.

“But he couldn’t have been nicer and he was like, ‘Andy, listen, I will release all the water, I will let you serve it, but I want to be one of the first people to be paid this import fee for what you’re doing.’ And I said, ‘OK, great,’ and I got back and I had all the water that we needed.”

Mr King added: “Can you imagine, in my 30 years of career that this was what I was going to do? I was going to do that, honestly, to save the festival.”

The Netflix documentary gives subscribers a front row seat to extensive behind the scenes footage of the event’s meteoric rise and descent into utter chaos in April 2017 as experienced by its management team, one local vendor and a few workers.

Mr King’s account and those of other employees renew still unanswered questions about the level of government involvement, at the district level and the Ministry of Tourism.

Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar could not be reached up to press time yesterday.

For its part, the University of The Bahamas (UB) yesterday shot down allegations its president had any involvement in the organisation of the festival. It also stressed the institution never entered into a contractual relationship with event organisers.

“The president of the university was not directly or indirectly involved in any communication regarding the organisation of the infamous Fyre Festival,” the UB statement read. “The statement referencing the president is false and is categorically denied.”

Yesterday, Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle told The Tribune he had not seen the documentary, nor could he confirm or deny whether police were investigating its claims at the time.

However, he noted his involvement in the FBI investigation that led to McFarland’s arrest and conviction in the US.

“I assisted in that investigation and that is completed as far as I’m concerned,” ACP Rolle, head of the police anti-corruption unit, said. “I’ve assisted the investigation with the FBI out of New York and we have completed that, and McFarland is doing time in federal prison, so that’s the evidence. I cannot speak to the documentary, I have not seen it.”