By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kvirgil@tribunemedia.net
FORMER FNM Chairman Darron Cash yesterday criticised Prime Minister Perry Christie for his fierce defence of outgoing Bank of the Bahamas Managing Director Paul McWeeney saying it was a “national disgrace”.
Mr Cash said the prime minister’s lengthy communication in Parliament on Wednesday night touting the contributions of Mr McWeeney to BOB did very little to sway independent observers who have already discredited the Christie administration on many levels.
He further responded to Mr Christie’s assertion that the FNM had ulterior motives in taking issue with BOB and was trying to “undermine” the integrity of a Bahamian owned bank.
“Prime Minister Christie was true to form in the House,” Mr Cash said in a press statement. “He once again bent over backwards to take care of one of his own. He is indeed lucky that he stood across from an opposition front bench of gentlemen and a gentle lady. I would not have permitted him to get away with the cesspool of nonsense he was able to ramble on with.
“In my view, he was allowed to get away with (political) murder (Wednesday) night.”
He added that any suggestion that the FNM has ulterior motives on the BOB matter is not true.
“I was raising the impending death of BOB before my family was victimised and I have done it since. He can scare his young Turks into submission. But it will take a thousand prime ministers like Mr Christie to come close to scaring me.”
He said Mr Christie’s spirited intervention proved that he would do anything to protect one of his boys.
Mr McWeeney joined the bank in 1993 and was leader for the last 14 years. He submitted his resignation last month. It will take effect in June.
“The PM’s full-throated defence of Paul McWeeney’s colossal failure was a national disgrace,” Mr Cash added.
“But the PM had no choice. McWeeney’s failure is Christie’s failure. They have to protect each other.”
Speaking to Mr Christie’s explanation of why BOB fell into trouble, Mr Cash suggested that Mr Christie was not being transparent about the clearing bank. Mr Christie has said the bank fell victim to the 2008 global recession.
Mr Cash pointed to a leaked letter from the Governor of the Central Bank Wendy Craigg in which several concerns were raised about the bank.
The Central Bank first raised the alarm over BOB’s “very weak” commercial loan portfolio almost two years ago, Tribune Business revealed last year. The letter slammed “all facets of its credit risk management processes” as “unsatisfactory”.
On Wednesday, Mr Christie said he could not blame Mr McWeeney for resigning because he had been unfairly blamed for BOB’s problems over the last year.
He was referring to the Free National Movement, which has continuously been critical of operations at the bank and called for the firing of Mr McWeeney and the bank’s board of directors.
Comments
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 10 months ago
WORTH REPEATING: Articles published in The Punch in December 2013 informed the Bahamian public that BOB had made the following loans and advances connected to political friends and cronies of Mr. Christie:
$28 million to Leslie Miller and/or entities owned by him and/or members of his immediate family.
$3.5 million to Obie Wilchcombe & Pleasant Bridgewater re. Universal Distributors Bahamas Ltd., a company apparently now defunct for all intents and purposes.
$8 million to another senior PLP cabinet minister.
$6.3 million to PLP business woman Patricia Mortimer who purportedly is a best friend and business partner of Lady Poodling and the owner of several shops at Nassau International Airport.
$2.3 million re. GEMS Radio Station which at the time was owned by Debbie Bartlett and Cyprianna McWeeney, the latter being the wife of PLP lawyer Sean McWeeney who is the brother of Paul McWeeney.
$4.5 million to enterprises owned/controlled by Edward Penn.
$4.6 million to Phil Lightbourne re. Phil's Food Services (Phil Lightbourne was the front man and spokesman for Ben Frisch who owned Bahamas Food Services up until the PM allowed the Frisch Family to sell it to Sysco Foods (a large U.S. public company) in April 2013.
Most of these loans and advances had to be fully provided for and may have since been written off by BOB at the people's expense. Small wonder the PM is now singing sweet accolades about McWeeney for having so handsomely rewarded the PM's political friends and business cronies!
duppyVAT 9 years, 10 months ago
Where is the list with the Big 13 loans for Resolve?????? Where is the Whistleblower on that?????????????? But thats a Who's Who list right there!!! POLITICALLY EXPOSED PERSONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
birdiestrachan 9 years, 10 months ago
The names mentioned above do they account for all of the Bad loans? or are there others not listed? and if so why?. Every body should be made to pay what they have borrowed back. They must have had some kind of collateral what has happened to that.
Cash is hurt, But cash is responsible for putting to much of the bank business out there knowing his wife worked for the Bank. and after all that his FNM party and Dr: Minnis rejected him big time. Cash is a very bitter man , it does not seem to be doing him much good. It would seem that Mr.: McSwenny. was doing a good job up to a certain point.
Again I say I have no use for that Bank. they treated me like dirty. and they need to give me all of those late fees back. I was going to pay. even if I had to go hungry.
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 10 months ago
Thats the point birdie, these people were given MULTIMILLION dollar loans with zero, practically worthless, or insufficient collateral. That is why the bank is in a stew. Cant you get that?\
What good job did McSweeney do??? list above are almost 50 million in BAD debt that the bank had to write off...Thats 50,000,000. He did a horrible job. He is the managing director his job is to oversee the operation. At MINIMUM to the extent that all of this went on under his nose he should have been kicked out the door months ago.
sansoucireader 9 years, 10 months ago
Didn't they have a branch in Miami, Florida that was shut down by US officials a few years ago because of stuff that was happening there?
TalRussell 9 years, 10 months ago
Comrade bloggers, if the local media can not be relied upon investigate at minimum questionable dealings, maybe it is time ask the foreign media step in to do the job? Comrades not my words but the government's own words when relieving BOB of a "minimum" for now that is, of $100 million that it INCLUDED loans made but REMAINING unpaid by those "POLITICALLY EXPOSED." Yet, the mainstream media does absolutely no investigation. Why not? You would think at least they'd take a few minutes to examine the Financial Disclosure Statements of elected and appointee government officials? Should this investigation also apply to today's and yesterday's MP's, senators and government appointees? How is it everyday in and on the media they can expose ordinary citizens for wrong stuff, even the most petty stuff, but leave their political friends and enemies untouchable, even when it involves hundreds thousands to millions dollars. How can that be right? Comrade Bloggers are you listening? ,
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