The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

An MP’s brother has denied he was promised $100,000 “for local influence” in helping to secure the necessary government permits for a controversial Harbour Island marina project.

Michael Johnson, brother of Stephen “Hank” Johnson, the central and south Eleuthera MP, argued that the allegations made against him were part of a ploy by Bernard Ross, the former 4M Harbour Island project manager, to “impugn my integrity and that of the development” in a bid to force the latter’s principal into paying him off.

The Eleuthera-based businessman hit back after Mr Ross, who has a history of convictions and run-ins with US law enforcement, alleged in documents filed with the central California federal court that he “demanded $100,000” to help secure all the required permits for 4M’s Briland Residences & Marina development.

And Mr Ross further claimed that Michael Johnson had worked closely with Joshua Sears, the Prime Minister’s senior policy adviser, and his MP brother, to obtain these approvals and smooth the project’s path through the government’s investment onboarding processes.

Mr Sears yesterday told Tribune Business it was “totally out of order” for Mr Ross to infer, or suggest by innuendo, that anything improper had occurred regarding the permitting process or his involvement with it.

“That’s part of the Bahamas Investment Authority process,” Mr Sears said in reference to the approvals obtained by 4M and its principal, Michael Wiener. “We are involved, as we usually are, with investment projects. That’s part of our official responsibilities. That’s the only thing that happens.

“We do that for every single major investor. We go through a process, where it goes to Town Planning and the Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology (BEST) process. The ultimate beneficiaries are the people in those islands that need these opportunities.

“There is nothing personal; it is purely professional. I don’t know what he’s [Mr Ross] getting at. I’ve been in public service all my life. My integrity is all I have. I’ve been through this for many years, and never, never...... Any suggestion to the contrary is totally out of order.”

Mr Johnson, too, denied that he had any involvement with Messrs Ross, Wiener or 4M Harbour Island, and referred this newspaper to his brother for any details on the project. “I was not involved,” he said. “I don’t know what’s happening with that project. My brother’s involved with it and he knows what’s happening.”

Mr Ross’ allegations, though, highlight how more persons - as well as The Bahamas and its reputation as a legitimate foreign direct investment (FDI) destination - are being dragged into his personal battle with Mr Wiener over the alleged settlement agreement that secured the ex-convict’s departure from the 4M Harbour Island project.

The pair agreed a $2.3m deal, with Mr Wiener paying Mr Ross and his wife, Holly, the first $1.319m installment, after their differences over the development’s management became impossible to reconcile. However, the 4M principal halted payment of the remaining $1m on the basis that his former project manager had created more issues and damages than first realised.

Mr Ross headed to the central California court in a bid to force Mr Wiener to honour the settlement and pay the $1m balance, triggering the ongoing litigation legal battle between the duo. Now the former convict, in a July 2, 2020, affidavit, is alleging that it was Mr Wiener - and not himself - who committed to paying Michael Johnson $100,000 for securing the project’s permits.

Mr Wiener and his US legal team, in legal filings on Monday, are urging the judge to strike out Mr Ross’ affidavit. However, the former project manager claimed: “Michael Johnson has no official role with the Government, nor does he possess a law licence.

“Yet he demanded $100,000 to assist in securing the required licensing for the project. I indicated to Mr Johnson that if he wanted compensation he would have to talk directly to Mr Wiener, who is the project’s owner and a US-based attorney....

“It was Mr Wiener, not I, who committed to pay Michael Johnson the $100,000 for working with Mr Sears and his brother, MP Johnson, along with others, to obtain the project permits. Mr Wiener has paid much more than $50,000 to Michael Johnson to compensate him for his local influence.” The latter refers to the fact that half the $100,000 sum has been paid to the Eleuthera businessman.

Michael Johnson, though, in a July 13, 2020, affidavit fired back: “I did not demand $100,000 to assist in securing licences as claimed by Bernard [Ross]. As stated in my prior declaration, Bernard promised this payment to me for providing my assistance to Bernard in processing permit applications for the project.

“Mr Wiener has not paid me for local influence, and my involvement on the project is not a secret from anyone on the island as claimed by Bernard...... Bernard’s false statements about my honesty, false statements about my brother and false inferences about me are being made to impugn my integrity and the integrity of 4M’s project with the Bahamian public.

“Nothing has changed in my interactions with Mr Ross except that he is now in a legal war with 4M, and my honesty and integrity is now challenged because Bernard thinks it will get him money.”

Michael Johnson, who is president of Mickyles Enterprises, an Eleuthera-based company, said in a previous affidavit that he was first approached about being an electrical contractor on the project when he met Mr Ross in mid-2017.

“Subsequently, he [Mr Ross] asked me to provide assistance liaising with the Harbour Island District Council, the governing authority on Harbour Island, as well as the Office of the Prime Minister,” Mr Johnson alleged in June 2020.

“As the nature of the project is a real estate development located on a small island in The Bahamas, I knew that my historical relationships and credibility with both the Harbour Island District Council and Office of the Prime Minister would be helpful.

“This was especially true with respect to the project Ross was working on since he claimed to be an owner of the project, and it was known to me - and government officials - that Ross had a prior felony conviction and other issues with the criminal justice system.”

Mr Ross, meanwhile, alleged that Mr Wiener urged himself and his wife “to keep his relationship with the Johnsons a secret, and threatened to sue us if we disclosed it. Mr Weiner is an extremely wealthy lawyer/businessman and used to boast to me about his ability to manipulate the legal system”.

The former project manager is also denying a claim by Michael Johnson that he was ordered not to communicate with Mr Wiener unless the ex-convict gave him permission to do so.

“On August 21, 2017, soon after first meeting Michael Johnson, I sent him an e-mail in which I clearly stated: ‘Michael Wiener is the manager/owner of 4M Harbour Island that owns the marina and surrounding property, and he has invested more than $8m in the project to date’,” Mr Ross alleged, attaching the e-mail to his affidavit.

“I never told Michael Johnson or anyone else that I owned the project. Nor, in my experience, was anyone else under that misimpression.” This, though, was contradicted by Michael Johnson, who said he can identify “architects, engineers and contractors” who were also told by Mr Ross not to communicate with Mr Wiener, describing the latter as someone who “just writes the cheques”.

Michael Johnson also confirmed that Mr Ross had correctly identified him as being present at 4M’s Heads of Agreement signing with Dr Hubert Minnis, sitting to the left of Mr Wiener’s Bahamian attorney, Ryan Pinder, the former financial services minister. He was sat directly in front of his MP brother, with Mr Sears also present.

“Bernard Ross indicated to me that Mr Wiener was merely the face of the project because Bernard Ross, as a convicted felon, would not be received by the Prime Minister and not allowed to invest in The Bahamas,” Michael Johnson added.

“With the passage of time, the role of Michael Wiener became more clear as I observed Michael Wiener attempt to exercise authority over Bernard Ross.”

Court filings previously reported on by Tribune Business revealed that Mr Ross - who was convicted of heroin possession in the US in 1976, and served a prison sentence - was effectively handed the keys to the project and given wide-ranging responsibilities by Mr Wiener.

4M’s Briland Residences & Marina project has also been subject to Judicial Review challenge in the Bahamian Supreme Court by rival Harbour Island hotelier, Benjamin Simmons, and Briland Island Responsible Development.

Both sides agreed that the site plan approval initially granted for the project should be quashed, having been wrongly granted by the Government’s Town Planning Committee instead of the Harbour Island District Council. Confusion then arose over whether the Council subsequently granted site plan approval, with councillors having voted in favour of doing so but nothing was produced in writing.