Bahamas Blog

PLP chiefs are in a rage and Fred Mitchell has his panties in a bunch after learning that Tribune General Manager John Marquis looks likely to receive his permanent residency permit.

Marquis helped dethrone the inept Christie government with his hard-hitting articles exposing the incompetence and corruption in the PLP mafia. Fred Mitchell and his mouthpieces at bahamasuncensored.com lead a "deport Marquis" campaign that did little more than show Mitchell to be the joker that Marquis said he was.

Mr Marquis' insightful journalism has benfited Bahamians more than anything Fred Mitchell has ever done.

Quote:

it's not too late. to whip it. whip it good. Devo

Bahamian Andrew Bridgewater was sentenced to flogging and seven years in prison for raping a 6-year-old girl.

The flogging - a whipping from a whip made of nine, knotted cords - would come in two sessions spread over two weeks.

Bridgewater is appealing the sentence. He will not seek to reduce his prison sentence but thinks he should be spared corporal punishment.

His lawyer and some human rights groups think corporal punishment is "inhumane". Others ask whether raping a six-year old girl is any more humane.

What do you think?

Vote in the poll and leave your comments on the message board.

permalink | comments (8)

Quote:

What financial services industry? Do you mean the tax cheats and money launderers? Frustrated potential investor

Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham went to Washington recently to try to convince US lawmakers to ease up on new legislation that would make it more difficult for Americans to hide their money in offshore tax havens.

Possibly a lost cause.

Let's be honest. The inconvenient truth is that the Bahamas doesn't have much of a legitimate financial services industry. Rather, we have a secret offshore banking industry managed, in large part, by tax evasion advisors and money launderers.

I remember an acquaintance telling me about a Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB) committee he was on a few years back. A committee including some of the "top people" in the Bahamas financial services industry.

Now, six years later, several of those same people are in jail... for money laundering and financial crimes.

A couple of them were labeled as being among the biggest financial criminals of the past century.

And these were the people advising the Bahamas government on how financial legislation should be structured. The same people who threw Hubert Ingraham into the wilderness for five years because he dared to pass legislation that might impede their financial crimes.

I remember when Ingraham passed the industry-riveting legislation back in 2000 - certain BFSB members flipped out. They were furious that the PM had not consulted with them on the new laws. Ingraham said he specifically did not consult with them because, as he so revealingly implied...

Why would he inform the criminals of the very laws he was enacting to stop their criminality?

I had a friend call me recently to express his frustration in finding honest, ethical offshore investing advice in The Bahamas. With hundreds of bankers and lawyers in Nassau alone, many specializing exclusively in financial matters, you'd think it would be easy to find a good investment counselor.

But that is not true. Instead, it is nearly impossible. My friend could not find even one individual in the entire country who met the following qualifications.

1. Honest and ethical with no "grey" area financial connections

2. Knowledge of offshore investing from a US perspective

3. Expertise and experience in dealing with legitimate international wealth management strategies

Could it be that most "financial experts" in the Bahamas are either tax cheats, money launderers, involved in grey area financial vehicles or completely ignorant of legitimate offshore investing?

We contacted lawyer after lawyer, investment advisor after advisor, including most of the major firms in The Bahamas, and we always walked away with the same feeling. They either knew nothing about legitimate investments, were involved in shady dealings or had such poor reputations that honest investors would cringe at doing business with them.

Some were so unprofessional they didn't even return phone calls.

I wonder if any of these people even know a thing about legitimate investing. I think all they know how to do is open secret bank accounts and hide people's money, often because the money was made illegally or the client is trying to evade taxes in their home jurisdiction.

This whole experience left us thinking that just about everybody we contacted who was involved in financial services in this town is either ignorant, incompetent or crooked.

If you do not think that's true, then come up with the name of a firm or individual who meets the criteria outlined above. Try to find even one. I'll bet you a coffee at Starbucks that you can't.

It appears that the concept of a Bahamas financial services industry is nothing more than a public relations scam to cover-up the rampant tax evasion, money laundering and other financial crimes that exist in our secret and corrupted banking/legal system.

No wonder the US Senate has proposed legislation to do away with such "offshore investing" schemes. It may hurt our economy for a minute, but, long term, it will benefit the Bahamas by helping us diversify and restructure our economy towards areas that are both legitimate and economically sustainable.

permalink | comments (1)

The website that Fred Mitchell says he is not involved in (but really is) spewed its usual racist garbage on Sunday. The Mitchell-mouths said that Prime Minister Ingraham...

Quote:

"has come back with vengeance with his anti Bahamian attitude. He is so wrapped up in pro white policies that nothing good can come from black men and women; only white men and women will do. His racism knows no bounds."

What kind of racist balderdash is that, Freddie?

Is Mitchell suggesting that because Mr Ingraham selected a white Bahamian as Deputy Prime Minister, that he must hate black people?

There is nothing in any of Mr Ingraham's actions that would warrant him being called a racist. Yet, almost everything that oozes from Freddie's diarrhea-infested mouth smacks of racist undertones.

Anybody who tries so hard to stir up racial diversity in this country - and this is not Mr Mitchell's first time displaying his racist ignorance - is an actual danger to the country.

Want to get rid of racists in The Bahamas? Let's start with Fred Mitchell and his mealy-mouthed clones.

permalink | comments (4)