The Tribune

• Butler: ‘I hope this happens to no one else’

• QC: Verdict ‘minor detail on road to justice’

• Warns airline chief: ‘This of little comfort’

• Peter Turnquest named as fourth defendant

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Sky Bahamas’ boss yesterday said he “hopes and prays this never happens to anyone else” after a default judgment against him over an alleged $33.4m “bogus loan conspiracy” was overturned.

Captain Randy Butler told Tribune Business he “cried because the weight was lifted” when Supreme Court justice, Loren Klein, cited “glaring deficiencies” in the case brought against him by Sky Bahamas’ former financier as the rationale for dismissing the previous verdict.

He added that his faith and trust in the Bahamian judicial system had been rewarded after Justice Klein found that the allegations made by Fred Kaiser, and his Alpha Aviation and Advanced Aviation entities, were “rather threadbare” and “far short of the mark” when it came to making a case for “fraud and/or conspiracy”.

However, Captain Butler said the “damage” done to his personal and business reputation, plus his family, had left a lasting impact, and added: “Had not God provided, I would have been a serious case.” Sky Bahamas, too, is no longer flying.

Yet Michael Scott QC, Mr Kaiser’s attorney, yesterday warned that despite Justice Klein’s ruling the legal case against Captain Butler and former deputy prime minister, K Peter Turnquest, who has now been named as a fourth defendant to the action, is far from over as the substantive case has yet to be heard by the Supreme Court.

“This is a minor detail on the road to justice,” Mr Scott told Tribune Business yesterday of the verdict. “Justice Klein ordered that we produce certain and further better particulars on the allegations in the statement of claim and, in so doing, set aside the default judgment.

“This was a technical judgment that in no way affects the strength, probity and justice of Mr Klein’s claim against Randy Butler and Randy’s related companies.... My client no doubt welcomes the opportunity for a hearing on the merits and a complete vindication of his claim against Randy Butler, K Peter Turnquest and their related entities in our courts.

“So far as Captain Butler is concerned, this is a tolerable victory as, in the end, our client will succeed against him and others on the merits. This is a procedural technicality, this being a procedural hiatus, and nothing more,” Mr Scott continued.

“We look forward to a hearing on the merits, and full vindication of the claim. In the end, this will be of little comfort to Captain Butler. While it would be true to say I do not like to lose, one has to put these things in perspective.”

However, “comfort” is exactly what Captain Butler has taken from Justice Klein’s ruling. “I cried because the weight has been lifted,” he told Tribune Business. “It was surprising to me to see these allegations come out, and I just did not know for the longest.... I go to Andros on a trip, and come back and the hangar I built from the ground is locked up.”

Captain Butler even asserted that the depth of his trauma even extended to the closure of his personal bank accounts, which went into overdraft after the banks were informed that Sky Bahamas owed substantial unpaid VAT, although how these were connected was not explained.

“I justice trusted that the justice system would work and the truth would come out,” the Sky Bahamas’ principal said. “I didn’t have access to any of the [airline’s] accounts, and I was shocked at these bogus claims. The judgment has proven the courts to work, and work for those poor people and aggrieved people.”

Praising Michael Horton, his attorney, whom he has known for 30 years, for standing by him, Captain Butler added: “The damage this has done, or tried to do, to my family, my personal reputation. It has impacted my business relationships, everything in The Bahamas.

“I knew there was no evidence to support any of these claims other than my name, Randy Larry Butler. I tell you, the effect on my family and a lot of people that trusted and worked with me, this has been a relief today for me, and I hope and pray this never happens to anybody else.

“I couldn’t get a dollar for my family for food and school fees. They had me locked down in Andros and I couldn’t fly out. Had God not provided, I would have been a serious case.”

The claims by Mr Kaiser that he was defrauded of $33.4m via sham loans triggered the resignation of Mr Turnquest as deputy prime minister and minister of finance, even though he was not named as a defendant in the original writ.

Mr Turnquest, who like Captain Butler is vehemently denying the allegations in that document, was described as “a director and manager” of both Mr Kaiser’s companies, as well as “owning and/or controlling and/or managing” Sky Bahamas.

Mr Kaiser is alleging that Captain Butler and Mr Turnquest engineered a decade-long conspiracy that lasted until 2017 “to enrich themselves” by defrauding his companies while concealing their activities.

The statement of claim, which has been seen by Tribune Business, alleges that the duo “dishonestly caused” Alpha Aviation and Advanced Aviation to “pay away” $20.68m and $5.917m, respectively, to Sky Bahamas via “some kind of bogus loans”.

No particulars were given to describe how the scheme worked, although Mr Kaiser’s companies alleged that Mr Turnquest and Captain Butler then used “some 39 fraudulent invoices and/or book entries, and for no adequate consideration”, to drain away some $3.8m paid by Alpha Aviation to Aviation Oversight Group via 39 separate cheque payments between February 2008 and July 2016.

A further $3.026m was also alleged to have been siphoned off by the duo “as at December 31, 2017, to AOG Maintenance Ltd, a company that owned Sky Bahamas’ maintenance hangar at Lynden Pindling International Airport.

Mr Kaiser and his companies, making it clear that they have come for the monies they believe are due and owing, are seeking a Supreme Court Order that an accounting be done to determine what is outstanding and that this money subsequently be paid to them. They believe their legal battle has not been derailed by Mr Klein’s verdict.