The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Robert Myers yesterday said he was waiting for the Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors to accept his resignation, amid increasing suspicions he had been ‘set up’ over his vehicle’s disputed valuation.

Mr Myers, in his Friday resignation letter to the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) Board, said he was stepping down as chairman to ensure his personal situation was not used to discredit its work, and that of the affiliated Coalition for Responsible Taxation (CRT).

The BCCEC head, and Coalition co-chair, had been embroiled in a ‘valuation dispute’ with Bahamas Customs over a hybrid Porsche SUV that he recently imported from the US.

While he submitted both the original Bill of Sale for the vehicle, plus its Kelly Blue Book Value, Customs chose to seize the vehicle on the grounds that Mr Myers had allegedly submitted an undervalued, ‘false declaration’.

Mr Myers’s position has been that he, and his broker, had merely provided Customs with all the necessary documents for it to establish a ‘fair value’ for the vehicle - especially since it had been driven for several months in the US, and was involved in an accident.

While acknowledging that they seemed to have followed an “incorrect procedure”, Mr Myers said he was still unclear what the process for obtaining such valuations should be.

He ultimately paid duty on the amount stated in the original Bill of Sale, plus a fine for the “procedural error”, thereby resolving the matter.

However, Mr Myers’s situation has been leaked several times to various social and mainstream media, all seen as supporters of the current government.

Articles and news reports have sought to portray Mr Myers as a tax dodger and evader, guilty of the same behaviour he himself has criticised on numerous occasions.

“It only went to the Board, so I’d rather not make any comment until after they have met tomorrow [today],” Mr Myers said, when contacted by Tribune Business on his resignation letter, which this newspaper has confirmed as genuine.

“There’s a process. I’ve indicated what I would like to do. We’ll see what happens. I can’t do much more than I’ve done, and we’ll see what the outcome is.

“The matter is very unfortunate. I don’t want any negative light brought on the work of the Chamber and Coalition. Those organisations are bigger than me.”

There are increasing suspicions among many in the private sector that Mr Myers has paid the price for being ‘too effective’ as an advocate for its interests, and his and the Coalition’s role in getting the Government to heavily modify its planned Value-Added Tax (VAT).

And his, and the Tax Coalition’s, continued push for a Fiscal Responsibility Act, plus greater transparency and openness in government, and limits to public spending, is unlikely to have sat well with both civil servants and the political directorate.

Mr Myers declined to comment yesterday on whether he thought the ‘vehicle valuation’ issue had been used to ‘set him up’ or start a ‘smear campaign’ against himself or the Coalition.

However, sources close to him, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested there was enough evidence to indicate this was the case.

In particular, they questioned why Mr Myers’s vehicle was displayed alongside those suspected to have been stolen, and the seized ammunition, as if to imply he was involved in the same illegal importation scheme.

The sources also pointed out that it was “not normal” for Customs files to be leaked to the media, suggesting Mr Myers had been singled out for special attention, and questioned what Customs’ Valuation Department was for if not to resolve situations such as those raised by the BCCEC chairman on his imported vehicle.

“This has been escalated improperly, blown out of proportion and improperly leaked,” one source said. “It’s probably not a coincidence.”

They also questioned why the Customs files on those accused of illegally importing stolen luxury vehicles, and ammunition, had not been subject to similar treatment and leaked to the media as Mr Myers’s situation was.

“There was no leak of the files on the ammunition and stolen cars,” one source said. “Isn’t it a little strange that his [Mr Myers] file got leaked on what seems to be a clerical error?

“His wasn’t a stolen car. Why did they go after him? Was it victimisation?”

Mr Myers, in his resignation letter, hinted at such beliefs himself, referring to “media exploitation” of his situation with Bahamas Customs.

He wrote in his letter: “Unfortunately, despite what I believe you may understand to be an excusable procedural error for which fair recompense was made, I am compelled to resign my position as the chairman of the BCCEC and co-chairman of the Coalition for Responsible Taxation, as I believe that the publicity of this matter has cast a negative light on the great work the staff and Board of the BCCEC is doing.

“This matter has also placed undeserved pressure on my family and businesses.”

Setting out the facts as he saw them, Mr Myers then added: “My wife and I purchased a used hybrid Porsche SUV in the US this summer, which we used in the US over the summer. Upon our return to the Bahamas, we shipped the car to the Bahamas via Tropical Shipping, and provided Tropical and our broker the required paper work to have the car shipped and cleared.

“Given that we had an accident with the vehicle and added mileage during our stay in the US, I requested that our broker have Customs take this into consideration when determining the value of the vehicle.

“I provided our broker with the original Bill of Sale for the vehicle, as well as the Kelly Blue Book value of a car of this condition as a means for Bahamas Customs to establish a reasonable value for the vehicle.

“Our broker understood and followed what she believed to be the prescribed procedure for the car to be valued by Customs, based on the submitted declaration and supporting documentation, as is noted in our Broker’s own account of what transpired.

Mr Myers added: “Given the circumstances, we now understand the procedure was incorrect, but are still unclear as to the prescribed process. We never had any intent to falsely declare the value of the vehicle. We simply seem to have improperly attempted to obtain a fair value for a used vehicle.

“I signed the C52 form in acceptance of our error, hoping that the Comptroller would take our explanation into account and resolve the matter. Upon the Comptroller’s ruling on the matter, I paid the required Customs duty on the full value of the vehicle as listed in the original bill of sale, as well as a fine for our procedural error.”

Mr Myers said his position as BCCEC chairman had drawn significant public attention to the matter, but challenged ZNS’s claims that he received favourable treatment from Bahamas Customs.

“I would argue that the reporter’s claims that I have been treated with any preference by Customs are misguided,” he said in his resignation letter.

“If anything, I have paid a greater price because of my position in the BCCEC, evidenced by the fact that the files related to my matter were leaked to the press. Other than the leaked information, I believe that Customs has acted appropriately.

“The law has been served, the penalty paid, and the matter resolved. My resignation will, I hope, remove me and my family from any further attacks, and allow the Chamber to continue to do its good work.”

Mr Myers said he hoped the private sector, civic groups and Bahamians at large understood “the desperate need for collaboration, change and hard work if the Bahamas is to remain a stable country and economy”.