Part 5

Antigua and Barbuda Crisis: Social and Economic Dilemma

By Kwame Nkosi Romeo

We live in a world where power is very unbalanced. Power imbalances are at the root of most social problems. Correcting power imbalances will go a long way toward solving many problems at once. 

We'd be wise to attend to this no matter what issues we work on. - Democracy: A Social Power Analysis -Dr. John S. Atlee, with Tom Atlee

CCI - No Enforceable Rights

In response to Laurus Master Fund Notice Of Default (NOD), CCI filed a counterclaim for injunctive relief and compensatory damages of US$20m in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), Claim No. ANUHCV 2006/0656. That action is described in the Current report Cci Group Inc 8-K - Current report on December 20, 2006. Subsequently, the ECSC Justice of Appeal Denys Barrow, SC, discharged the CCI injunction, declaring "...that Beach and CCI have no enforceable rights." 

CCI lost the case; the Beach House foreclosed, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) undertook the liquidation process. Laurus later replaced PWC with BDO, another administrative receiver, to launch the sale. The property eventually ended up as Adam James Barrett, Stanhope Shepherd International Limited (SSIL), and a new partnership emerged between times. Barret intimated in a letter dated May 14, 2015, to the Barbuda Council named one backer, Peter Virdee, as a Caribana sponsor:

 "....we have successfully executed the requested financial support for Caribana; as of today myself and, my partners, such as Mr. Peter Virdee, have committed more than $50,000 by way of sponsorship, flights, marketing, the Frigate Troop, and other initiatives."

Former PM Lester Bird knew CCI sought funds from Laurus. Still, there was no proviso in the lease agreement to protect Barbuda property being used by CCI as noted in the following disclosure- Optional form for quarterly and Cci Group Inc 10QSB/A [Amend] - Optional form for quarterly and transition reports of small business issuers: 

"The company granted Laurus a priority lien on the assets at the resort, including a priority lien on their ownership rights to the governmental lease."

Bird ignored these shenanigans and prioritized Laurus' funding over the peoples' birthright because CCI borrowed US$5 million to compensate for the political cabal landholding's lease interest; again, the political clique profited from the sale to PLH.  

Did SSIL benefit from CCI foreclosure? 

Indeed, Adam James Barrett (no relation to Rob Barrett), owner of SSIL, played a significant role as a professional intermediary to conceal the beneficial owner. The CCI foreclosure beneficiaries were politicians and many politically connected offshore companies that enabled the ALP robbers to facilitate the land acquisition. 

The Conspiracy to Rob Barbuda Land:

This conspiracy to rob Barbuda gained impetus after MP Trevor Walker of the Barbuda People's Movement (BPM) lost to Arthur Nibbs of the Barbuda People's Movement for Change (BPMC) in the March 2013 Barbuda Council election. The outcome expedited the takeover of the CCI 90-acre lease by Adam Barret. Moreover, the BPMC covertly gave Barret a lease for the remaining 70 acres east of the Beach House. On May 30, 2014, Barbuda Council signed the agreement to handover the 70 acres to SSIL for the amount of US$3,850 ($EC10,395) drawn on Global Bank of Commerce Limited cheque # 2890 dated May 30, 2014, confirmed by Barbuda Council receipt #150351 July 24, 2014. This agreement included four provisoes:

1- That SSIL is successfully assigned the Beach House Lease

2-The terms and conditions of the new lease will be identical (save term) of the existing Beach House Lease

3-That SSIL undertakes to commence a satisfactory refurbishment of the existing Beach House property or agrees to an alternative plan to otherwise develop the Beach House and the adjoining parcel of Land in line with its business model and with the approval of the Barbuda Council.

4- BC undertakes that the lease optioned shall be issued within 90 days of the assignment of the Beach House Lease to SSIL.

Also, the Barret Exclusive Option Agreement with the Barbuda Council safeguarded the 70-acre acquisition. What is an Exclusive Option? An exclusive Option means an Option under which individual rights are granted under this agreement. Barbuda Council agreed within 60 days to those provisoes, as mentioned earlier. Barret acted on inside information and got the lease, knowing that PLH was interested in the location. Do not be fooled; this transaction would not be possible without Bird's approval. Bird retired from active politics on December 13, 2017.

Barret's objectives in penning another letter to the Barbuda Council on November 4, 2016, was to get PLH's attention concerning the 90-acre Beach House plus the 70 acres appropriate for the PLH investment group:

"As you are aware, a developer is presenting the people on the evening of the 7th of November 2016 an application for a substantial area of land surrounding the Beach House, which includes lands already allocated to our company." Barret used the Barbuda Council to complete the deal since the letter proved to PLH that SSIL possessed the 160-acre lease. This scheme worked in the plots' interest, and PLH subsequently purchased the lease for a significant amount of money.

Was the letter crafty? Indeed, BPMC and the Barbuda Council were disingenuous in the undertaking since the composed letter instructed the Barbuda Council to speak with PLH about SSIL lease ownership to quicken the negotiations, rush the sale, and deposit funds into Global Commerce Bank. 

Bird interest began with the 99-year lease of 510 acres allocated to Impresa Guffanti Constructioni Edili SRL. Bird declared ownership of 100 acres listed under Dream Company Limited during a parliamentary debate. That land leasing goes beyond the 100 acres since Mariuccia Mandelli, the founder of Krizia, and her husband Aldo Pinto died on December 06, 2015, and February 25, 2016, respectively. 

How much taxes did the government accumulate from the leases? As mentioned above, for instance, in the PBH lease agreement with CCI, the lease payment was a measly US$7,000 per annum for the 90 acres.

The Genesis of the Plot

The genesis of the BPM split came about with the ALP's clandestine manipulation to takeover the Barbuda Council, so Arthur Nibbs was financed by the ALP inner circle of benefactors and founded the Barbuda People Movement for Change (BPMC) to agitate against BPM. 

BPMC quickly morphed into the ALP agenda, betraying the people of Barbuda. ALP consolidated its power with the UPP's defeat on June 23, 2014, and BPMC again defeated BPM at the polls. 

ALP power was now absolute to sell off Barbuda, but not for long; Trevor Walker of BPM defeated BPMC candidate Arthur Nibbs in the national election 2018 and retook the Barbuda Council in 2019. 

Walker's victory restraints Browne's undertaking to sell off Barbuda communal land and grant infinite leases. 

The next Barbuda Council election is in March 2021. Browne and the investors are covertly preparing so MP Trevor Walker, Barbudans in the diaspora, and Antigua and Barbuda's opposition forces must be vigilant. Barbuda cannot change the Council to facilitate Browne's and PLH's acquisition of Barbuda.

Ending the corrupt lease saga and the fraudulent transaction's web demands an inquiry. A government change must ensure the people get justice by pulling in all the investors and government ministers. No one knows how much Fred W. Jackson paid BDO. 

No one knows how much PLH paid Barret for the 90-acre Beach House and the 70 acres directly East of the Beach House. How much Fred W. Jackson Jr., former CEO and president of The CCI Group, made from the deal is known.

According to Fred W Jackson, Jr., former CEO & President of The CCI Group NY September 2002 -September 2009 concerning the 90-acre Beach House property sold for US$14m: 

"Bought resort for $5m, closed it, extensively remodeled it for $1m, took it from 2 stars to 5 stars, from zero revenue to profitability and international acclaim...Sold it for $14M with $16m expansion financing and appraisal." (LinkedIn- Fred W Jackson, Jr -Resort Development Partner).

Later on, the peoples' property ended up in the hands of PLH without the Barbuda Council receiving one red cent. How did this happen?

To be continued......