The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FOX Hill MP Fred Mitchell yesterday said it was unfair the late Bishop Solomon Humes had become “unfairly mixed up” in the international scandal wrought by the Panama Papers.

Mr Mitchell came out in defense of his former classmate, who was named in the leaked confidential documents as a past vice president of an investment fund allegedly used by British Prime Minister David Cameron’s father in The Bahamas to avoid British taxes.

“I left St Augustine’s College in 1970 as one of 120 people who graduated that year,” he said, “...amongst those who excelled was the late Bishop Solomon Humes. When he left SAC he was known as a math wizard.

“I had no idea that he had an interest in the clergy but that is how life shapes us. He was well respected in his ‘day job’ in banking and by his fellow churchgoers and members in the Lord’s work. Indeed, he was well respected in this society.”

He added: “He was one of a number of Bahamians who formed the middle-class by working within the financial services sector that developed countries now seem to want to destroy. That is a great moral fault on the part of the developed nations.”

The late lay bishop of Church of God of Prophecy was reportedly one of an “army” of up to 50 Caribbean officers hired by Prime Minister Cameron’s father - Ian Cameron - to sign paperwork and fill roles such as treasurer and secretary at Blairmore Holdings Inc. The Guardian, a British national daily newspaper, had reported that Ian Cameron had served as a director of Blairmore Holdings until shortly before his death in 2010. The fund was incorporated in Panama but based in The Bahamas in the 1980s.

In a press statement yesterday, Mr Mitchell said he was asked to speak out for Mr Humes by the church’s Bishop Franklyn Ferguson.

“Bishop Humes, like many senior employees of these offshore banks served as directors of companies that were clients of the banks for which they were employed. They were not clients of Bishop Humes.

“Their activity was overseen by the banks themselves,” he said.

“From what the record shows, Bishop Solomon Humes did no more or less than any of the other financial services professionals in this country. These many financial service companies that Bahamians worked for were all from developed countries and were and remain perfectly legal. There is nothing immoral about the work. Their work was the legitimate exercise of the ability to ensure that your wealth is safe and diversified. It also assists in one’s personal security.

“This is a well regulated jurisdiction which ensures international best practices are followed in the sector in The Bahamas,” he added.