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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2020
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PHA chief appealing tender ‘abuse’ order By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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HE Public Hospitals Authority’s (PHA) procurement chief is appealing the dismissal of his defamation lawsuit against an auditor’s findings that alleged he “abused” his employer’s tendering process. Dr Marvin Smith, who heads the PHA’s Supplies Management Agency, and his attorney last night confirmed an appeal had been filed after the action against John Bain and his accounting firm, UHY Bain & Associates, was struck out after being deemed “frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process”. Both Dr Smith and his attorney, Clinton Clarke, declined to comment further because the appeal against the July 14, 2020, Order by the Carol Misiewicz, the Supreme Court deputy registrar, is now live before a Supreme Court judge. However, the latest ruling
•Procurementbossfightingdefamationdismissal •Courtsaid‘frivolous,vexatious,abuseofprocess •Reignitescontroversyover2014forensicreport
DR MARVIN SMITH effectively revives the controversy surrounding Mr Bain’s six year-old forensic investigation and report into the PHA’s supply chain management and procurement practices, with the findings remaining a contention that will seemingly not go away. Dr Smith, in his October 16, 2014, claim had sought “exemplary and aggravated damages” from Mr Bain and his firm after they reported that he allegedly “circumvented the tendering
Retailer expands on to Bay Street By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN retail entrepreneur yesterday revealed he is expanding to Bay Street through a $700,000 investment that will create 20 jobs, adding: “There’s always opportunity in the midst of crisis.” Andrew Wilson, the Quality Business Centre (QBC) and Fashion on Broadway principal, told Tribune Business he has secured a 5,000 square foot site opposite the Straw Market that will
target tourists via a “new concept” that will “return me to my manufacturing roots”. Suggesting that his move had been made possible by the exodus of “foreignowned retailers” from downtown Nassau due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and continued cruise industry shutdown, he added that the venture planned to showcase leather goods, jewellery and clothing products from “select designers” in The Bahamas and abroad.
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Stem cell provider’s $7.5m insolvency By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A PIONEERING Freeport-based stem cell therapy provider had just $335,218 in cash to cover more than $13m in liabilities when it was placed into Supreme Court-supervised liquidation. The full extent of the Okyanos Centre for Regenerative Medicine’s financial quagmire was revealed in Justice Indra Charles’ August 31, 2020, decision
explaining her rationale for granting the winding-up of a company that was seen as a key player in The Bahamas’ efforts to kickstart medical tourism. Despite Cheryl Simms, the Kikivarakis & Co accountant now confirmed as Okyanos’ full liquidator, showing the company had just $5.667m worth of assets (including that modest cash sum) to cover $13.22m in liabilities, thereby creating a $7.553m solvency
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process” at the PHA by ordering “urgent” pharmaceutical supplies from what appeared to be “a shell company” that received its Pharmacy Council registration just three days before the deal occurred. The then-acting Bahamas National Drug Agency (BNDA) vehemently denied the allegations, alleging that the report - which asserted that the PHA was “defrauded out of over $11,500” in the transaction - had damaged his personal and professional reputation, and brought him into “public scandal”. Mr Bain, in his report that was submitted to the then-PHA board, headed by former PLP Senator Frank Smith, wrote: “Our investigations uncovered details of at least one abuse of the tendering system when Dr Marvin Smith, deputy
director of BNDA, circumvented the tendering process by ordering “urgent” supplies that apparently were not in demand, that benefited a supplier, National Supply Inc, who was not at the time the approved supplier for the oncology drugs ordered.” Suggesting that the transaction was carried out in “questionable circumstances”, Mr Bain added: “The amount of drugs ordered were not supplied, and the receipt of the drugs was certified by the same person ordering, Dr Marvin Smith. “Additionally, the internal auditors found evidence that the receiving documents may have been altered from the original invoices from 200-Docetaxel 40 mg and 200-Oxaliplatin 200 mg to
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Governor eyes ‘savings bonds’ to aid resiliency By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Central Bank’s governor yesterday said “savings bonds” are being eyed to boost financial resiliency after it was revealed less than four in ten Bahamian households had sufficient reserves when COVID hit. John Rolle told Tribune Business that the creation and roll-out of such a vehicle, which would allow Bahamians to build up savings through investments in government debt securities, would likely “get some attention in 2021” as part of the Central Bank’s strategy to boost the national savings rate. He spoke after an InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) survey of 910 Bahamian households revealed that just 37.9 percent, or less than four out of every ten, confirmed they had “enough savings to cover an unexpected expense” when COVID-19 struck in mid-March.
JOHN ROLLE Defining an “unexpected expense” as being equivalent to one month’s Bahamian minimum wage, which is $840 or $210 per week, the IDB assessment said: “Households’ preparedness varied by pre-pandemic income level. Households that reported higher total household income in January 2020 were more prepared to cover immediate expenses. “Only 1.9 percent of low income households (those earning below the minimum wage) reported having enough savings for an emergency expense, whilst 29.9
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