The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

SKY Bahamas' principals yesterday told Tribune Business they completely "deny" allegations by a former executive of the airline that they conspired to squeeze him out of his equity stake in the company, and recorded incorrect shareholdings in the Companies Registry.

Both K P Turnquest, Sky Bahamas' chairman and the FNM candidate for east Grand Bahama, and Captain Randy Butler, its president and Democratic National Alliance (DNA) candidate for North Andros, dismissed the claims by Lynden Stephen Mitchell as nothing more than "a political ploy" intended to damage their general election prospects.

In documents filed with the Supreme Court on April 24, 2012, Mr Mitchell said his allegations related to when he teamed up with Messrs Turnquest and Butler to acquire the airline that would become Sky Bahamas in 2008.

Alleging that a company called Captured Dreams was formed to carry out the acquisition, Mr Mitchell alleged that Sky Bahamas had $5,000 in share capital divided into 5,000 shares worth $1 each. Of these, just two were said to be issued, one to Mr Turnquest and the other to Captive Dreams as according to company records filed with the Registrar General's Department on April 16, 2010.

Mr Mitchell, though, claimed that Sky Bahamas was in fact wholly-owned by Captive Dreams. The latter's share capital was also $5,000, divided into 5,000 $1 shares, and an August 11, 2011, filing with the Companies Registry allegedly showed that Mr Turnquest owned 3,000 shares, Mr Mitchell some 1,500, and Captain Butler the remaining 500 shares.

However, Mr Mitchell alleged that the correct shareholding split was 2,000 shares each to Mr Turnquest and himself, giving both a 40 per cent stake. He claimed that Mr Turnquest had incorrectly represented his shareholding "with intent to cause me loss".

Mr Mitchell than claimed that a May 2008 regulatory filing by Sky Bahamas showed the true shareholdings in the airline. This filing purportedly shows an entity called Captive Dream (probably Captured Dreams) as having a 35 per cent equity stake in the airline, with Mr Mitchell and Mr Turnquest each holding 25 per cent, and Mr Butler the remaining 15 per cent.

A footnote said Captive Dream was owned 40 per cent each by Messrs Mitchell and Turnquest, with Captain Butler having 20 per cent.

Mr Mitchell, in seeking a Supreme Court order for the Companies Registry to "rectify" the Sky Bahamas share ownership, further alleged that Messrs Butler and Turnquest claimed there was "a call on shares and to have forfeited my shares" at a Board meeting when he was not in the Bahamas.

However, both Sky Bahamas' principals vehemently denied the allegations when contacted by Tribune Business yesterday. They indicated that the timing of the action's filing, just two days ago, its reliance on documents long in the public domain and appearance on a website well-known as a propaganda outlet for the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) meant it was just "a political ply" designed to try and discredit them in the general election run-up.

"I have not received any documents," Mr Turnquest said yesterday. "I have nothing to respond to at this stage. I have heard these documents exist, and read the online thing, but I have not received or been served them."

Captain Butler, meanwhile, denied that Mr Mitchell had been a Sky Bahamas shareholder, and was just a former officer of the airline. He pointed out that the documents filed with the Registrar General's Department produced no evidence that Mr Mitchell is, or had been, a shareholder, and said much was likely to have changed in terms of shareholdings and Board composition since the 2008 regulatory filing.

"The whole thing will not make it to court. It's a political strategy. If he [Mr Mitchell] had an issue, he should have taken it up a long time ago," Captain Butler told Tribune Business. "I deny all of it, and he [Mr Mitchell] knows better than all of that. It's a political ploy."

Captain Butler added that Sky Bahamas "did call on his [Mr Mitchell's] shares", but told Tribune Business there were good and valid reasons why such a move occurs.