By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

COALITION of Independents leader Lincoln Bain defended his $1.8m net worth yesterday, telling The Tribune that he gained his wealth through a successful investment strategy. 

“I’ve been in the business for a very long time from my early 30s,” he said. “Many persons would know me as a businessman for a very, very long time. I’ve run many, many retail businesses in this country and other businesses. I am an IT professional for a very long time and I made some good investments when I was in my 20s and younger and they paid off.”

 Mr Bain, who is vying to represent the West Grand Bahama and Bimini seat, filed his asset declarations in Grand Bahama on nomination day.

 He claims he has $1,836,514 in assets and a total income of $112,400.

 According to the businessman’s declaration, the bulk of these assets - $750,000 - are in securities, while $600,000 are in real estate.  

 He declared a savings account containing $41,514 but listed no liabilities.

 The disclosure makes the aspiring politician the wealthiest person on the list of by-election candidates vying for the West Grand Bahama and Bimini seat.

 The candidate with the second highest net worth is Free National Movement Party’s Bishop Ricardo Grant, who has a net worth of $134,598.69. He is followed by Kingsley Smith. His net worth is $134,000.

 However, there have been renewed questions about the accuracy of candidate nomination declarations.

 Bain insisted yesterday that his filings are accurate - though he declined to say how many businesses he currently owns or whether they are still operational.

 When asked about a Supreme Court judge ordering him to pay $64,000 to a woman related to a failed investment deal, Mr Bain said the ruling is being appealed, suggesting this as a reason why he did not list any liabilities.

 “As far as I know, I don’t owe anyone anything and I set myself up that way. I always shied away from liabilities and I think that’s what most Bahamians should do,” he added. “ If you go into liabilities, you should go into liabilities for something that can give you income where you could get a return, but in terms of borrowing to travel and most of the things that most people will do, that’s things that I would shy away from.”

 An official from the Parliamentary Registration Department could not confirm the veracity of the declarations when contacted by The Tribune yesterday.

 The official said they were not responsible for verifying the data put forward by candidates, similar to what representatives said back in 2017.