BMD Holdings wants moratorium on Baha Mar sale

The former developer of the Baha Mar casino resort is seeking a moratorium on the sale of the venue to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd.

Bahamas.- BMD Holdings Ltd. has urged the Bahamian government to place a moratorium on the sale of the Baha Mar casino resort to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd (CTFE). After BMD unsuccesfully tried to file for bankruptcy, both companies reached an agreement for the latter to take over the unfinished project which has recently been parcially opened in late April.

The bankruptcy filing was made in 2015 in a US court, after BMD Holdings claimed it faced debts of US$2.7 million. However, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas Supreme Court didn’t recognise the bankruptcy and the government of the Bahamas had to find an alternative solution for the project, which was the agreement with CTFE later that year.

BMD Holdings released a statement on Monday in which it asked the government to place a “moratorium on the completion of any sale of Baha Mar and other transactions,” as reported by GGRAsia, consequent with the arrangements that had been previously made with former Prime Minister Perry Christie, the project’s secured creditor China Export-Import Bank and the main contractor for the development China State construction.

According to the former developer, documents regarding the terms of the sale “confirm (…) that the previous administration had engaged in the wholesale giveaway of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax waivers and concessions that the country could not afford.” They also claim that the agreement “raises the concern about the potential of corruption and self-dealing by members of the previous government, even beyond the now public self-dealing by the former Attorney General.”

They even exhorted the new government to “reopen the casino license investigation” (requested by Sky Warrior Bahamas Ltd -CTFE subsidiary- and approved in April) and release the Gaming Board’s assessment of CTFE’s suitability to the public.

BMD Holdings announced that considering to take legal action against the parties involved in the agreement for the sale to CTFE.