Law firm defends Deputy PM in claim over $10m estate

As of Tuesday, July 29, 2014

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

A LAWYER in the firm Davis & Co yesterday defended the actions of Deputy Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis while in private practice following published reports in The Miami Herald that a Cuban woman has raised concerns about a financial transaction over the reported $10 million estate of her deceased expatriate husband who lived in the Bahamas.

Philip McKenzie, a partner at Davis & Co, told The Tribune that while he was unsure of the value of the assets in question, he could say that at the time the estate was settled, Kenia Batista Mir was pleased with what she was awarded and was assured of the terms by her “good” Freeport attorney Carlson Shurland.

On Sunday, The Miami Herald published reports that Ms Mir, who lived in the Bahamas with her German husband Franz Kohlrautz, claimed that out of the $10 million estate left to her, she only received $70,000. In addition, The Herald said an attorney working on behalf on Ms Mir was trying to figure out how Mr Kohlrautz’s home in a neighbourhood of residences reportedly worth $2 million to $3 million was sold for only $200,000. The Miami Herald points to documents that allege that the home was bought by a company of which Mr Davis was president.

The Miami Herald said Ms Mir speaks very little English and needed a translator to keep her informed throughout the probate phase.

Attempts were made to contact Mr Davis as well as Mr Shurland, but up to press time neither could be reached.

“Our role was limited in this and I can say that I only became involved with assisting in the matter afterwards so I am not well aware of the value of the assets or exactly what they were,” Mr McKenzie said.

“But I do know that if it were me that had an issue with the way things were handled, I would utilise the court system. If she can reach out to The Miami Herald, then surely she can use the courts if she has a problem.”

The Herald said a complaint was filed with the Bahamas Bar Association in 2012 and that correspondence was sent to the Queen of England as the head of state in the Bahamas over the issue.

Attempts to reach an official from the Bar Association for comment were unsuccessful.

According to legal documentation from the probate of the assets filed on August 8, 2011 obtained by this newspaper, Mr Kohlrautz named Mr Davis “of Ocean Drive, Westridge Nassau” as the executor and trustee of his will. The documents said Mr Davis was to pay all of Mr Kohlrautz’s funeral and testamentary expenses and that his body was to be cremated within four days of his death.

Mr Kohlrautz went on to say that nothing was to be left to his son. However, he said his wife Kenia Batista Mir was to receive his home at Golden Point Road, Lucaya Freeport. The property consists of five lots, the documents said.

Ms Mir was also to receive Mr Kohlrautz’s bank account at the Royal Bank of Canada and the contents of two safety deposit boxes.

Mr Kohlrautz further ordered that the executor of the will, Mr Davis, was to receive $500,000 and sequester various properties in Grand Bahama that he said were stolen from his possession.

Ms Mir told the Miami Herald that she met Mr Kohlrautz in 2005 as a 25-year-old waitress at El Chevere, a Havana club. At the time, he was 75 and taking salsa lessons at the club. Mr Kohlrautz was born in Germany and made millions of dollars from mining and lived in Freeport, Grand Bahama.

In 2006, his widow went to Grand Bahama where they both resided at his five-bedroom, six-bathroom home complete with a tennis court. She said they had two Mercedes-Benz cars and a boat docked in the canal at the back of the home. Later, in 2009, the two married.

Law firm defends Deputy PM in claim over $10m estate

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