By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Attorneys representing the Old Bahama Bay resort’s owners yesterday accused senior police officers of acting “in excess of their authority” after the latest bid to change all locks and seize management control was foiled.

Michael Scott KC, in a letter sent to Shanta Knowles, the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s commissioner, asserted that officers had improperly intervened to block agents acting for LRA-OBB and Resort Holdings from “reclaiming the property peaceably” for their clients.

This now marks at least the third failed attempt in just over a year by Old Bahama Bay’s two corporate owners, LRA-OBB standing for Lubert Adler-Old Bahama Bay, to regain management control at the West End, Grand Bahama property from Island Ventures Resort and Club (IVRC), the entity formed by a group of condo owners to operate the complex after its original developer, Ginn, defaulted on its financing 15 years ago.

Mr Scott, in his letter to the police commissioner, reiterated his argument that - because IVRC has no lease agreement with his clients - it is not a tenant at Old Bahama Bay, and thus no eviction notice or Supreme Court possession order is required for LRA-OBB and Resort Holdings, and their managing agent, Reunion Cay, to reclaim operational and management control.

Instead, he asserted that IVRC only possesses a Bare Licence Agreement which was first agreed in May 2019, then renewed on January 31, 2021. This, Mr Scott added, makes IVRC just “bare occupiers” with no legal rights to Old Bahama Bay, and the licence terms permit his clients to move in and retake possession if the management firm fails to vacate upon being told to do so.

He added that IVRC was given written notice to vacate almost 17 months ago, on March 26, 2025, but failed to depart by the March 28, 2025, date that was stipulated.

“In the events which further developed, and given the failure on the part of IVRC to voluntarily quit the licensed property in accordance with the provisions of the Bare Licence agreement, agents of my clients, Cleveland Duncombe of Candid Security, with a team entered upon the licensed property and facilities and took possession by changing all relevant locks at the licensed facilities,” Mr Scott told Commissioner Knowles of yesterday’s events.

“This is where matters should have ended peaceably. Notwithstanding the fact that IVRC, its officers and employees were now in the position of trespassers, senior police officers, Superintendent Hart, Superintendent Marlon Grant and assistant superintendent of police V. Role, entered upon our clients' premises and property.. indicating that they had instructions ( not identifying from whom or where those instructions emanated) to stop my clients from reclaiming their property peaceably.”

Mr Scott urged the commissioner “to immediately recall your officers” and “order them to withdraw and take no further steps in what is, and should remain, a civil matter, namely the recovery of property rights and possession by the fee simple owners of the property and amenities at Old Bahama Bay”.

He added: “I am also advised that the head of the northern division of the police at Freeport, assistant commissioner of police Dames, took it upon himself to inform my clients and their agents that if they attempted ot enter upon their property without a Writ of Possession that he would arrest them.

“This injudicious action is plainly, legally wrong… A licence as opposed to a lease gives the licensee no estate or tenure on land, and therefore there is no need for a Writ of Possession. Your assistant commissioner has acted in excess of his authority and should be instructed accordingly.”

John MacDonald, IVRC’s president, yesterday confirmed to Tribune Business that the latest bid by LRA-OBB and Resort Holdings to regain control at Old Bahama Bay had been thwarted.

“They came in, obviously not through the gates because otherwise we would have stopped them, and changed all the locks,” he said. “When the staff got there this morning they were blocked from entering the entire resort.”

Confirming that he summoned Royal Bahamas Police Force officers to prevent the takeover, Mr McDonald, who was not on Grand Bahama, said he was alerted to what was afoot by the general manager, James Culmer.

“They’ve been told by the police multiple times,” he added. “The head superintendent told them: ‘Do it one more time and you’ll be arrested. This is is the last time’. They’ve still not been able to produce papers showing they own the property and they do not have an eviction order.

“There was no real impact to operations. It was pretty quickly resolved as far as operations go. It’s obviously trying on our staff. They’ve been with us for a long time. They are very strong and very good staff, but keep getting hit by these by people and told to get out. It might have been two hours’ today. I’m going to stretch it and say it was two hours of disruption but it wasn’t heavy.

“The police walked around the property with our people, we removed their locks and put ours back on, and the police told them: ‘If you do this again you’ll be hauled off in handcuffs.”