Poor Bahamas. The "negotiation" between New Co and the government, based on past experience will take several decades. The powers that be will take years to decide who gets what cut of the graft and skim from the 51% they insist they hold for the "Bahamian People". What a joke! Who can run a business with a bunch of corrupt politicians having "veto power" over major corporate strategy?

This country's independence was founded on the belief that fundamental human rights trump unjust laws!

This government conduct is shameful. What are these poor people supposed to do? Where will they shelter tonight? Many have no country to which they can turn? Many were born in the Bahamas. Fred and his minions act as if they can just move into a hotel room or something tonight. "Nothing to see here."

These are poor, dispossessed persons, with no where to turn. How callous. How cruel. How can Fred live with himself? All this unnecessary misery for some small political advantage?

Hitler and Fred's pals the Castro brothers are among the few who could be proud of such policies.

"Mr Christie has also said the Cellular Liberalisation Task Force, formed last April has drafted transaction documents to govern a partnership with the government that will allow for a 49-51 per cent ownership split with the selected company. Mr Christie has said that Bahamian investors will own the 51 per cent."

Maybe BEC could own 51% of the new mobile carrier....or perhaps Bank of the Bahamas. That would certainly guarantee a high level of service along with scrupulous integrity and we could avoid the messy process of finding new Bahamian ownership. It could be the same chaps who own and run those two enviably efficient enterprises.

....and now Crown Land to Peter Nygard???? You cannot make this up. Is there no level of perfidy this government cannot exceed?

We can all agree that our political system and sorry political leadership has a great deal to do with the epidemic of murder and mayhem on these islands, but there are steps that could be taken to get the small percentage of the population who are repeat offenders responsible for the vast majority of violent crime, off our streets, which would greatly impact the murder statistics.

The Bahamas needs to enact criminal conspiracy statutes, similar to the RICO statutes in the U.S. which would treat gangs as criminal enterprises, and permit immediate incarceration of all gang members on the occasion of any one being accused of a violent crime. This sounds draconian, but the reality is that these gangs are just that (criminal enterprises) and the violence they perpetrate on the community, is really a conspiratorial enterprise based on shared gang goals.

Bail laws need to be modernized to permit those accused of particularly violent offenses, including those accused as co-conspirators (read all gang members) to be held without bond. The police should be immediately reorganized to create a gang squad that tracks and identifies all criminal gangs and their membership, so it is widely understood on the street that violence by one, means jail for all. Immediate jail, jail before trial. That would have an immediate impact.

This statement is perfect nonsense. Chapter 11 would have permitted the business enterprise to continue forward and would have protected the vital contractual relationships the enterprise has developed over many years. The "liquidation" procedure does none of that. It is a recipe for endless litigation and dispute, which will result in dooming this enterprise and all the jobs and receivables that many, many Bahamians desperately require. It is inconceivable that any knowledgeable business person would consider this "liquidation" proceeding to be likely to accomplish anything other than to provide a mountain of fees for lawyers, and a smoke screen to forever hide the inside dealings between the Chinese entities and government cronies that led to this disaster in the first place.

All of us understand your frustration Cobalt, but bear in mind the Bahamas has a lot going for it, and it is a small country whose problems are hardly insurmountable.

All the country needs is the political will to toss out the corrupt cronies that have been pillaging for decades.

Sadly the Parliamentary system is one that makes wholesale change difficult. The parties stack their party constituencies with loyalists who are fed on the public teat, and that group does not represent the population at large.

It may be necessary for the electorate to take the bull by the horns and demand a change the Bahamas Constitution providing a Presidential form of government, with separation of powers between executive and legislative branches, where new leadership can come in and throw the bums out.

Mister D’Aguilar cannot understand why the government is fighting tooth and nail to prevent a Chapter 11, "Workout" proceeding under U.S. Court supervision?
How about if that were permitted, every single one of the grotesque insider deals between the contractor from China and the serving government cronies would be exposed. Further how about the fact that all sums "paid or due and owning" respecting such corrupt dealings would be either recaptured or disallowed? Let's not be naïve here. The serving government cannot permit any uncontrolled, uncorrupted, outside agency, to peek under the covers of this smelly mess.

Tal: Get a grip. You know absolutely nothing about this. Your windy comments simply expose your ignorance of the bankruptcy process and how a creditor in possession work out, bankruptcy differs from a Chapter 7, liquidation of a terminally insolvent bankrupt. Your efforts to support your idea of what the serving government wishes are misplaced. They have no clue either.

U.S. Attorney’s Office
October 23, 2014

Southern District of Florida
(305) 961-9001

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that Lawrence Foster, 49, of Miami Beach, the President of Paradise is Mine, was found guilty by a federal jury in Miami of conspiring to commit wire fraud and seven counts of wire fraud. Johana Leon, 38, of Miami Beach, a corporate officer of Paradise is Mine, meanwhile, was found guilty of three counts of structuring currency transactions by the same jury.

The trial evidence showed that Paradise is Mine received approximately $8 million from approximately 90 investors after the company promised that it owned land in the Bahamas and would use investor funds to develop the island of Rum Cay in the Bahamas. In its promotional materials, Paradise is Mine claimed that it was featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and other publications, and that Super Bowl MVP Joe Montana and other celebrities purchased land from Paradise is Mine. Bank records, however, show that no money went to the Bahamas. Instead, Leon withdrew over $1 million as cash below the $10,000 currency transaction reporting level. Foster spent investor money on personal expenses, including gardening and a Bentley GT. Witnesses from the Wall Street Journal and USA Today testified that the Paradise is Mine articles had never appeared in either publication. Finally, the accountant for Joe Montana testified that Mr. Montana never received land from Paradise is Mine.

United States District Judge Donald L. Graham remanded Foster to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons and set sentencing for January 5, 2015. Foster faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison for each count. Leon faces a term up to five years in prison for each count of conviction.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys H. Ron Davidson, Robert Watson, and Harold Schimkat.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov