BY NEIL HARTNELL

TRIBUNE Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A SECURITY contractor for Old Bahama Bay’s owners has recommended they file formal complaints with the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s (RBPF) internal affairs unit, and launch legal action against the Government, over “unauthorised interventions” by senior officers over the resort’s repossession.

Elwood Lundy, a paralegal and officer with Candid Security, the firm hired by LRA-OBB and Resorts Holdings to seize control of the West End resort from Island Ventures & Resort Company (IVRC), a management firm formed by its condo owners in the wake of Ginn’s 2011 demise, alleged that police officers with the rank of chief superintendent, assistant superintendent and inspector had “facilitated trespass, property damage and contempt of Supreme Court” orders.

His August 7, 2026, report for Michael Scott KC, the attorney for Old Bahama Bay’s two corporate owners, alleges that the chief superintendent responded “f*** you and carry your a**” when one of his colleagues challenged the officer - and four Security and Intelligence Branch policemen - in aiding 27 former IVRC employees to purportedly trespass and enter the repossessed property without permission.

Mr Lundy’s report, which has been filed as evidence with the Supreme Court, claims that the entrance of these former staff members resulted in “newly-installed locks” being broken and doors smashed. It has emerged amid the ongoing battle for control of Old Bahama Bay, with IVRC, its affiliates and three of the associations representing the resort’s condo owners seeking Supreme Court injunctions that would reinstate the former’s control of the resort and oust its owners.

Detailing events during the often-chaotic, but ultimately successful, bid by LRA-OBB and Resorts Holdings to regain control of the resort over August 4-5, Mr Lundy detailed numerous alleged legal breaches that were purportedly facilitated by Royal Bahamas Police Force officers over the two-day period. Besides the chief superintendent, he recommended that complaints be filed with the RBPF’s internal affairs against three other officers for alleged “abuse of office”.

These were identified as assistant superintendent Darcy Williams, Inspector Outten and Police Constable Mott. And Mr Lundy also suggested that LRA-OBB, which stands for Lubert Adler-Old Bahama Bay, the former being the investment bank that initially financed the Ginn project, and Resorts Holdings also launch a civil legal claim against the Attorney General and the Government for alleged “civil trespass, tortious interference and misfeasance in public office” over the officers’ actions.

“This investigative report provides a comprehensive account of the enforcement of property possession at Old Bahama Bay Resort & Marina between August 4–6, 2026,” Mr Lundy wrote. “It documents a series of unauthorised police interventions that facilitated trespass, property damage and contempt of Supreme Court directives.

“The report establishes the lawful authority of Candid Security as the contracted agent of LRA-OBB, outlines statutory and constitutional breaches by police officers, and analyses vicarious liability under Bahamian law. Supported by jurisprudential precedents and statutory references, the findings recommend escalation to RBPF Internal Affairs, criminal charges against trespassers, and civil proceedings against the Attorney General for trespass and misfeasance.”

Describing the breaches as serious, and requiring “immediate legal redress to safeguard property rights and uphold judicial authority”, Mr Lundy said he was part of a near-20 person convoy that seized back control at Old Bahama Bay in the early hours of August 4, 2026.

Besides 16 security officers, also present were Cleveland Duncombe, Candid Security’s chief executive; Don Churchill, head of the management company that has taken over the resort’s operations, and former superintendent of police, Wendall Clarke, who is now an attorney. Upon arrival, they set up security posts and barricades around Old Bahama Bay as new locks were installed on the main lobby doors, fuel dock and associated facilities, warehouse and head office, and water plant.

However, confrontations with former IVRC employees and police officers began in early afternoon. “Police Inspector Outten approached [security] officer Lundy at the eastern barricaded entrance, stating assistant superintendent Darcy Williams instructed him to grant access to Charles Barr, or T.C,, a former employee of IVRC,” Mr Lundy wrote.

“Officer Lundy warned Inspector Outten that permitting former personnel on to the premises violated the active Supreme Court ruling and standing orders. Inspector Outten stated: ‘You Lundy, you do what you have to do, and I do what I have to do. I am the police. You're just a civilian security’.

“Inspector Outten physically escorted Mr Barr, aka T.C., past the legally erected barricade, onto the property of LRA-OBB without their consent or lawful authority and express permission, placed him inside the security officer booth, closed the door and walked away.”

A further incident allegedly took place just one hour later. “Police Constable Mott, claiming that he was acting on orders from assistant superintendent Darcy Williams, called IVRC former security officer Mr Frith on to the property of LRA-OBB without their consent or lawful authority and express permission,” Mr Lundy reported.

“Officer Lundy issued a formal verbal warning to PC Mott. PC Mott responded: ‘My man, I ain’t here to argue with you. We done finish with that. You done say what you had to say. Right?’ PC Mott personally escorted Charles Frith into the security booth on the property of LRA-OBB without their consent or lawful authority and express permission.”

The most serious clash, according to Mr Lundy, occurred at mid-morning on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, when the chief superintendent and four Security and Intelligence Branch (SIB) officers arrived at Old Bahama Bay.

The chief superintendent allegedly “escorted former IVRC general manager, James Culmer, and 26 former IVRC employees past the barricades on to the private land of LRA-OBB without any consent or lawful authority and express permission”.

“Wendall Clarke, who was present, confronted the chief superintendent on-site regarding the breach,” Mr Lundy said. “ The chief superintendent responded unprofessionally: ‘F*** you and carry your a**’ before the dialogue de-escalated. [He] and the SIB contingent illegally escorted James Culmer and the 26 individuals to the main office, subsequently leaving them unsupervised on private land.”

Mr Lundy alleged he ignored demands by the SIB officers to stop video recording him as he was “performing lawful duties on private land”. He further claimed: “Immediately following the departure of the SIB officers, the 27 individuals who had been escorted past the perimeter unlawfully allegedly broke the newly installed locks and damaged the new doors installed on August 4 at the main lobby, fuelling dock office, central warehouse and water plant.”

The involvement of senior police and SIB officers in the battle for control at Old Bahama Bay which, for the moment, has seen LRA-OBB and Resorts Holdings oust IVRC although this may be subject to change depending on the Supreme Court’s verdict, is likely to raise questions over whether government figures may have prompted their intervention.

Old Bahama Bay’s owners have always taken the position that, because IVRC has no lease agreement with them, it is not a tenant and has no leasehold or any other interest in the resort’s property. 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.

They have argued that IVRC, which the latter is contesting, only possesses a Bare Licence agreement which was first agreed in May 2019, then renewed on January 31, 2021. As a result, they claim IVRC are just “bare occupiers” with no legal rights to Old Bahama Bay, and the licence terms permit LRA-OBB and Resorts Holding to move in and retake possession if the management firm fails to vacate upon being told to do so. It was given such notice on March 26, 2025, but failed to depart.

Mr Lundy, in his August 7, 2026, report urged Old Bahama Bay’s owners to “escalate to immediately reporting to RBPF inspection/Internal Affairs branch and seek legal review regarding trespass and contempt, breach of judicial directives and professional misconduct, accompanied by emergency Supreme Court injunctive relief”.

He added that Bahamian law does not give police officers power to give one side physical possession of a property, or resolve such disputes - which are typically civil, not criminal - matters without a Supreme Court writ of possession. The police’s role in such disputes is largely confined to preventing a breach of the peace, and Mr Lundy alleged that the officers’ conduct at Old Bahama Bay breaches the regulations under the Police Act Disciplinary Regulations.

And, asserting that Bahamian law makes the Government responsible and “liable in tort” for the wrongful actions of police officers, Mr Lundy added: “Because the officers of the Security and Intelligence Branch (SIB) facilitated entry on to the LRA-OBB property without an enforcement writ or lawful authority, their actions fall within the scope of tortious liability attributable to the Crown.

“The subsequent destruction of locks and doors by the escorted individuals was a foreseeable consequence of the unlawful entry…. Thus, both the direct unlawful acts of the officers and the consequential property damage by the escorted individuals are actionable against the Crown, establishing joint vicarious liability.”