A DEMAND FOR AN INVESTIGATION OF THE BRITISH CARIBBEAN BANK If the Turks & Caicos Islands and its citizens and residents are to begin building on the ruins of their country laid waste by a decade of corruption, first it must start to clear the rubble from the ‘blitzkrieg’ of destruction wrought by external forces that have brought our country perilously close to the abyss! A mere handful of companies have such enormous influence and power in the Turks & Caicos Islands they are in reality the de facto government of the country whereas the elected TCI government and the British governor are merely puppets dancing from strings manipulated by corporations such as the British Caribbean Bank and FortisTCI, two foreign owned entities that have a history of trampling on the interests of the people in favor of corporate profits to satisfy the insatiable financial thirst of directors and shareholders residing overseas. FortisTCI can be dismissed for the purpose of this article as just another corporate entity engaged solely in gouging the people of the TCI for corporate profits to be banked in Canada. This behavior is certainly not in the best interests of the Turks & Caicos Islands but it is not against the law nor can we accuse the power company of corruption. Only corporate greed! The British Caribbean Bank is a different story! Formerly known in the Turks & Caicos Islands as the Belize Bank (a bank once accused officially of money laundering in the tiny Central American country of Belize) until in 2009 the name was changed in the TCI to the British Caribbean Bank (BCB) but remained owned by BCB Holdings Ltd until 2010 when it was sold to Waterloo Investment Holdings Ltd. Interestingly, Lord Michael Anthony Ashcroft owns 75% of both companies and thus acted as both seller and purchaser in these transactions? Waterloo also acquired the Leeward companies and Belize Services International that owned 50% of the shipping registry and company in Belize that indirectly assists clients in the ‘avoidance’ of taxes. bsx/Company.asp?CompanyID=1099937818 The ‘make over’ of the Belize Bank to the British Caribbean Bank in the TCI (whilst the Belize Bank name remained in Belize and elsewhere) was conveniently undertaken just a few months before the collapse of Oxford Ventures Ltd in 2010 that owned Johnson International, at the time one of the largest construction companies in the Caribbean. There are reliable claims that Lord Ashcroft remained a ‘shadow director’ of Oxford Ventures Ltd after he reputedly sold his stake in the company as part of a management buyout by employees at Johnson International and that he continued to control the operation of Johnson International until the company was ultimately placed in to receivership in 2010. barbadosfreepress.wordpress/2010/07/21/johnston-international-collapses-amid-corruption-allegations-employees-owed-millions/ These claims purporting Ashcroft as a “Shadow Director” appear to be corroborated by supporting evidence. Of course a “shadow director” has the same responsibility as any other director who is liable for all losses since 2005/2006 when the company was trading whilst insolvent as Johnson International. Johnson International was then placed in to receivership in 2010 owing millions of dollars in wages and severance pay to former employees. (We can confirm that Oxford is currently in court liquidation with the long established Cayman company, Chris Johnson & Associates Ltd., appointed as official liquidator that is in the process of investigating Oxford and its subsidiaries and former subsidiaries including Leeward Ltd. No doubt the Court will take the liquidator’s findings extremely seriously). Naturally Lord Ashcroft denies he was ever a “shadow director” of Oxford Ventures Ltd. To allow the benefit of all doubt, perhaps there is far more involved here than meets the eye, facts perhaps only a special inquiry could exhume after so many years, now clouded and partly obscured in the mists or, more appropriately, the sands of time! theguardian/politics/2012/feb/05/lord-ashcroft-collapsed-caribbean-firm Someone with a suspicious nature might consider the rebranding of the Belize Bank on Providenciales conveniently coincidental when the announcement came towards the completion of Sir Robin Auld’s Commission of Inquiry in to corruption allegations in the Turks & Caicos Islands. These allegations ultimately resulted in the suspension of the local elected government in favor of direct rule from London through the appointed governor of the island, followed a year or so later with prosecutions of various individuals now awaiting trail; including, politicians, developers and local attorneys. It is well documented that Lord Ashcroft, although never charged with any crime, let alone even a misdemeanor as far as we are aware, was investigated in the 1980’s and 1990’s along with his companies for a number of alleged offences. These claims of alleged malfeasance have been well publicized in various international media as catalogued in the following online link: bsx/Company.asp?CompanyID=1099937818 Lord Ashcroft and the Belize Bank (purchased by Ashcroft and his group in 1987 from the Royal Bank of Canada) finally arrived in the Turks & Caicos Islands in the 90’s with a long established and questionable history often featured in negative articles and editorials in the US and UK media. Ashcroft has a propensity to sue anyone who dares sully his name in the media and is reluctant to give interviews to provide answers to legitimate questions concerning his business activities in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in other countries. It is therefore not surprising that Ashcroft has enraged many people by resorting to the use of a standing army of attorneys who, like a rapid reaction force, are quick to silence any criticism of their leader and Peer of the Realm. With justification people are nervous of Lord Ashcroft and the maelstrom of litigation he can unleash given his enormous wealth. Rupert Murdoch and the London Times and the Independent Newspaper once experienced his litigious wrath, and Ashcroft even rattled his financial sabre days before the airing of a documentary about him on the BBC. More recently legal intimidations by Ashcroft attorneys forced a small newspaper in the Cayman Islands to withdraw a story that contained only established and proven facts. Furthermore, the Lucayan Bugle is under no illusion that attempts will be made to take down this particular article to deny our freedom of speech to republish previously published facts by leading international news media. The privileges of wealth or political influence should never be used to stifle the freedom of speech, especially by someone with ambitions in politics and in a country where democracy is championed before all else. The legions of Ashcroft attorneys often belie what the ‘great’ in Great Britain used to mean when ‘great’ men had the courage to stand the world stage alone without a stream of legal advisors to script a life not true. statesman/newspapers/2010/02/ashcroft-independent-story None of the serious allegations against Ashcroft and his companies has ever been prosecuted in a court of law and so His Lordship and his various companies stand innocent until proven guilty, like any other lesser mortal! But then under his stewardship of the British Caribbean Bank and other associated companies in the Turks & Caicos Islands has done nothing to dispel the accusations and rumors of an on going history of malfeasance during Lord Ashcroft’s occupation of Leeward for more than a decade. Many questions remain unanswered concerning the activities of the Ashcroft group of companies that have had such a profound effect on the economy, the consequences of which have touched the lives of nearly every single citizen and resident of the Turks & Caicos Islands. The following list highlights but a few serious matters that require investigation, whether by a special prosecutor or by a separate Commission of Inquiry to be established by CARICOM or some other independent body with an impartial standing. The connections between the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and its boss, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, and Lord Ashcroft are well known and thus any British involvement would surely be a conflict of interest in the matter. The relationship between Ashcroft and Hague is far too cozy for anyone to trust the outcome of any inquiry other than one completely independent of the British government. Proposed issues for investigation: 1. The BCB’s involvement in the purchase of land and construction of the former Premier’s home. 2. The loans for millions provided by the BCB to various former cabinet ministers with no visible equity. 3. Oxford Ventures and Johnson International Ltd. 4. The Leeward Highway contract. 5. The hospital contract. 6. The dredging of Leeward-Going-Through and the proposed development of Star Island. 7. The Nikki Beach Development. 8. The BCB’s connection with the FSC (Financial Services Commission, appointed by the British government to regulate the activities of the island’s financial sector). 9. Questionable associations or connections, if any, between the BCB and the judiciary of the Turks & Caicos Islands. 10. Questionable activities of the former and current managers of the British Caribbean Bank. 11. The involvement of the current manager in the business activities of the Trade Winds Condotel and the subsequent alleged ‘clogging’ of assets. 12. Questions should also be asked of several attorneys on island who have represented the BCB in a number of controversial matters. Obviously attorney/client privilege will preclude investigations other than perhaps any deemed to be as a result of a criminal conspiracy involving both the client and the attorney. 13. Answers also need to be provided concerning the bank’s association with an unlicensed law firm in the TCI called Westminster Business Ltd that is claimed to have been set up to avoid Belize VAT tax. 15. Allegations concerning possible stamp duty fraud by a former manager of the BCB should also be addressed. It is transparently obvious to anyone with a modicum degree of intelligence that the Turks & Caicos Islands cannot struggle free from the quick sands of corruption until some form of inquiry or investigation is undertaken in regards to the British Caribbean Bank and other companies with connection to questions raised in the above list. It is not healthy for the well being of our nation for one corporate entity to wield so much power and influence, effecting both the economy and the people of the TCI when there are so many unanswered questions suggesting unbridled corruption involving one of our major institutions. If the British Caribbean Bank feel there is no substance to any of these allegations, then it should welcome our proposal for an inquiry to finally lay aside the suspicions and innuendo that will surely remain for years to come if no inquiry is commissioned. Under this circumstance, assuming Ashcroft and the British Caribbean Bank choose to remain stubbornly mute, then the people of the Turks & Caicos Islands should demand to have the bank’s license revoked to enable the country to move forward without the encumbrance of past baggage that might stymie any possibility for national reconciliation and future economic growth. Editors LUCAYAN BUGLE (Readers might find the following link useful to explain some of the issues we have referred to in this article) tcisun.server301/index.php?p=story&id=472
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 22:22:46 +0000
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