business@tribunemedia.net
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021
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MARIO CAREY
Realtor moves into new territory: $3bn projects ‘on table’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A LEADING realtor yesterday acknowledged he has taken a risk in stepping outside the profession to launch a venture that has $3bn in potential projects “on the table”. Mario Carey told Tribune Business that the launch of Mario Carey Ventures (MCV) was his ambition to help diversify the economy and counter the ‘brain drain’ that sees two-thirds of university and collegeeducated Bahamians remain abroad after completing their studies. Giving such graduates a place to “land” is one of MCV’s prime goals, with the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate MCR Group Bahamas principal asserting that the venture and its projects “will speak for themselves when they are signed, sealed and delivered”. Declining to provide details, or supporting evidence that would justify the collective $3bn valuation placed on MCV’s ventures, Mr Carey added that he aimed to provide a vehicle/ platform for innovative and creative thinking that will prove attractive to both domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI). A release announcing MCV’s launch said it is focusing on around a dozen possible projects in areas such as technology, affordable housing, diversified farming, digital assets and resort development, with Mr Carey telling Tribune
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Minister tells cruise lines: ‘Don’t dump’ on Nassau By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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CABINET minister yesterday urged the cruise lines to “not dump on the destination” given that they often created “insurmountable thresholds” for Bahamian entrepreneurs to do business with them. Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, told Tribune Business he wanted to give “a little bit of push back” to recent criticisms by Carnival Cruise Lines executives that Nassau lacked fresh product - particularly new and exciting attractions and tours - to entice passengers off their ships when the
• Hits ‘insurmountable thresholds’ for local firms • Ships too eager to get excursion ‘piece of pie’ • Industry must play its part to improve product
DIONISIO D’AGUILAR industry eventually returns post-COVID-19. Calling for a more equal partnership between The Bahamas and the cruise industry, Mr D’Aguilar said
the latter’s practice of adding its own mark-up to the fee levied by Bahamian providers was effectively pricing local tours and excursions out of the market. Arguing that it was unfair for the cruise lines to solely blame this nation, and that they also needed to adjust their own practices, he added that their mark-ups often gave passengers the impression there was “no value for money” in leaving the ship for shore-based attractions. Mr D’Aguilar urged the cruise industry to curb its
desire for a cut of shore excursion revenue so that the experiences offered by Bahamian entrepreneurs “gain traction and reputation”, while acknowledging that the government and private sector must work together to ensure this nation fulfills its side of the bargain. Responding to assertions by Giora Israel, Carnival Group’s senior vice-president for port and destination development, the minister told this newspaper: “What
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Judge calls for criminal probe into attorney’s ‘possible fraud’ By NEIL HARTNELL and YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporters A SUPREME Court judge has urged the director of public prosecutions to investigate an attorney for “possible fraud” over a series of six-figure transactions involving the same real estate parcel. Justice Keith Thompson, in a February 23, 2021, ruling, also called on the Bahamas Bar Association to take “disciplinary action” against Troy Kellman, an attorney with Hanna, Kellman & Company, in relation to “seriously unethical behaviour” over two deals that ensnared a BISX-listed insurer and the government’s Bahamas Mortgage Corporation. Mr Kellman, who declined to comment when contacted by Tribune Business
• Blasts ‘seriously unethical behaviour’ • Urges ‘disciplinary action’ by the Bar • Deals ensnared Colina, Mortgage Corp yesterday, saying he was unaware the ruling had been issued, first represented both Colina Insurance Company and Lion Management Company in a $175,000 deal involving an apartment building and associated land in the Estella Anne Tract in western New Providence. A $10,000 deposit was paid to Colina, as vendor, and the sales agreement stipulated that the purchase price balance was to be paid within 60 days. However, Lion Management Company never paid the outstanding $165,000 even though the publiclylisted life and health insurer had sent the property’s
conveyance to Mr Kellman on July 18, 2012, so he could arrange its execution by the buyer. Colina, which ultimately replaced Mr Kellman as its attorney with Alexiou, Knowles & Company, the law firm of its principal, Emanuel Alexiou, determined that Lion Management Company had defaulted on the deal and that the transaction was null and void. However, Mr Kellman failed to return Colina’s conveyance and its other documents associated with the failed sale. This forced the insurer to initiate legal action to recover the
documents, and for which it obtained a default judgment, but Colina alleged the papers had yet to be returned. And, unknown to the BISX-listed insurer, Mr Kellman - even before it determined the sale was void - had lodged and recorded the conveyance in the Registry of Records on March 20, 2013, despite the sale to Lion Management Company never being completed. This had the effect of transferring title to Lion Management Company even though it had never
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ANDRE FOSTER
BTC facing ‘day by day’ fight on mobile rebound By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) faces “a real day-byday fight” to reclaim mobile market share lost to Aliv, its newly-appointed chief executive has admitted. Andre Foster told Tribune Business the carrier is “pretty confident” that the erosion of its mobile subscriber base has “bottomed out” after its ultimate parent, Liberty Latin America, revealed earlier this week that it had added a net 2,000 customers in the 2020 fourth quarter. He added, without providing details, that BTC believes new products that it plans to launch in the 2021 second half will “help us reclaim some of our mobile subscriber base”. One initiative, which Mr Foster said BTC has been “a little slow to get out”, is the launch of a postpaid product “that behaves like a pre-paid product” and is targeted at the latter segment. “We’re pretty confident that is the case,” he added, when asked if BTC’s mobile subscriber losses over the past four-plus years have halted and even started a slow rebound. “We continue to look at how we can maintain and grow back that subscriber base. “We feel that it’s bottomed out. It’s going to be a real day-by-day fight to reclaim and get customer trust to come back to us.
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