The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

ENVIRONMENTAL advocacy group Save The Bays yesterday denied claims by Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade that the group has not filed an official complaint with the Royal Bahamas Police Force against Lyford Cay resident Peter Nygard for allegedly orchestrating a murderous plot against his billionaire neighbour Louis Bacon and lawyer Fred Smith, QC.

The allegations are contained in court documents filed in the Supreme Court last year.

STB Chairman Joseph Darville, in a statement, said the group is “stunned and dismayed” at Commissioner Greenslade’s utterances, charging that he “cannot fathom” how the commissioner could say such a thing “when I and four others sat outside his office for more than two hours to meet with him in 2015 and filed a complaint that included nearly 100 exhibits” in February 2015.

Mr Darville said that complaint included “statements, photos and DVD recordings.”

He called on Commissioner Greenslade to “act on the original complaint,” adding that he and STB would “welcome the findings once we understand that the complaint was treated with the seriousness with which it was prepared and submitted.”

On Wednesday, Commissioner Greenslade said the RBPF’s investigation into the matter “is not going anywhere”.

The Commissioner claimed that “no one” from STB has given the RBPF a complaint against Wisler “Bobo” Davilma and Livingston “Toggie” Bullard, the two men who were allegedly hired by Mr Nygard to engage in criminal activities.

Commissioner Greenslade suggested that “another group”, likely referring to Mr Smith and other members of the Grand Bahamas Human Rights Association (GBHRA) is “everywhere telling the world they are in fear” of “the harm that’s going to happen to them” while not filing an official complaint.

The commissioner also said that when RBPF officials attempt to reach out to members of STB, they “duck” the police officers, which he suggested was akin to “playing games.”

“I have the greatest respect for our Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade, but I cannot fathom how he could have reached the conclusion that no complaint had been filed when I and four others sat outside his for more than two hours to meet with him in 2015 and filed a complaint that included nearly 100 pages of exhibits,” Mr Darville said, adding that the complaint was filed “following what was to be a peaceful gathering of people pressing for a true Freedom of Information Act.”

“We were on Charlotte Street with all the necessary permits and a stage set up with entertainers singing, people speaking, good fellowship,” he added. “Instead, the event was hijacked by a group of aggressive protestors whose intent was to disrupt the peace and create an intimidating atmosphere.

“...We went to the police immediately and filed the complaint later when we got no action. The complaint included statements, photos and DVD recordings. One of our members who has done a lot of pro bono work for law enforcement and raised significant amounts of funds for police over the years sent numerous emails and finally got a meeting, not with the commissioner, though, but with someone else who said bluntly that the hate actions that victims felt threatened their security were just ‘a spat among neighbours.’

“The lack of taking that complaint seriously was the first mistake in what escalated into what appears to be some sort of (alleged) murder for hire plot,” Mr Darville added. “I do not know those two men whose names have been mentioned but I do know that several of us were victims of hate actions and the police elected to ignore us.”

Mr Darville subsequently called on Commissioner Greenslade and the RBPF to honour STB’s initial complaint in order to provide for some movement on the investigation.

“...We are stunned and we still would hope that now that this is out in the public view the commissioner will act on the original complaint filed in February 2015,” he said. “We invite him to do so and would welcome the findings once we understand that the complaint was treated with the seriousness with which it was prepared and submitted.”

Last year it was revealed that former FBI agent John DiPaolo, along with a team of retired FBI and Scotland Yard professionals and Bahamian investigators, conducted a lengthy investigation into claims that Mr Nygard contracted two “criminals”- Bullard and Davilma - allegedly to harass, intimidate and cause physical harm and property damage to four directors of the STB organisation, as well as Reverend CB Moss and several others.

On March 14, 2016, however, Commissioner Greenslade questioned how Mr DiPaolo came into the country to “work without any reference to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.” Commissioner Greenslade said at the time that he would be speaking to Immigration Director William Pratt “to see if he has anything on file” regarding Mr DiPaolo’s entry into the country.

Mr Pratt later said that Mr DiPaolo never had a work permit to conduct his investigations, and that the Fort Lauderdale investigator had entered the country as a “regular visitor.”

On Wednesday, Commissioner Greenslade said he is “not sure if (Mr DiPaolo)” actually came to the Bahamas.