The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Digital Editor

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

OPPOSITION leader Michael Pintard is still demanding answers over the management of approximately $700m linked to the National Investment Fund (NIF), saying the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has yet to receive critical financial records needed to establish where the money went and who authorised the transactions.

Mr Pintard identified five people appointed to oversee the National Investment Fund (NIF), including Central Bank Governor John Rolle, as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) continues to seek critical financial records from the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury.

He said documents obtained by the committee confirmed that appointments were made as far back as August 2025, although the government never publicly announced the board or included it in its most recent list of boards and committees.

The members were identified as Sean Longley, the apparent chairman-designate; Mr Rolle; Dianne Bowe-Pindling; Brian Jones; and Andre Rahming.

In an update on the PAC's ongoing investigation, Mr Pintard questioned why the government had withheld the appointments despite repeated requests from the opposition and the media.

He also reiterated concerns that the board had never been convened, despite hundreds of millions of dollars reportedly being allocated and transactions carried out in the fund's name.

"Money was apparently being allocated and transactions were taking place in the name of the National Investment Fund, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars," Mr Pintard said.

"Government statements and reports referred to activity under the Fund. Yet the evidence received so far indicates that the legally appointed Board was not involved.

“Indeed, one piece of correspondence received by the PAC indicates that the Board members did not even know that these activities were taking place in the Fund's name."

The committee is also examining the legal basis for an account held at the Central Bank that has been publicly described as belonging to the fund.

Mr Pintard said testimony and documents obtained so far suggested that the account was not established by the appointed board but was instead created and operated under a separate arrangement controlled by the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury.

He said the committee had not received a clear explanation of the legal authority used to establish and operate the account.

"Instead the testimony and documents received so far suggest that the account was created and operated under a different arrangement and under the sole control of the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury," he said. "The Committee is therefore asking a very simple but important question:

If this account was not established and operated by the National Investment Fund created under the law, then what exactly was the nature of this account?"

The findings have added to longstanding questions surrounding approximately $700m in excess government borrowing publicly linked to the NIF.

Mr Pintard said the PAC had yet to receive transaction records needed to determine where the money went, how it was moved, which accounts were used and what transactions were conducted.

"The Government publicly connected approximately $700 million in 'excess borrowing' to the National Investment Fund," he said.

"But the Committee does not yet have the transaction details needed to account for that money. We do not have a complete explanation of where the funds went, how they moved, what accounts were used or what transactions were carried out. The Bahamian people deserve a clear accounting of that money."

He also criticised the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury for failing to provide requested documents, despite both agencies receiving formal requests around the same time as the Central Bank and the Department of Legal Affairs.

Mr Pintard acknowledged the cooperation of the latter two agencies, saying Central Bank Governor John Rolle and the Director of Legal Affairs had provided helpful testimony and important documents in a timely manner.

However, he said the same could not be said of the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury.

Financial Secretary Simon Wilson and the Treasurer have both appeared before the committee, but Mr Pintard said significant gaps remained in the documentary record.

"We need the records of the transactions to determine how the money was spent," he said.

"We also need the Ministry of Finance to point to the specific legal authority that allowed it to carry out transactions in the name of the NIF without the involvement of its Board. These are not minor or technical details. They go directly to who controlled the money, who approved the transactions and what lawful authority they relied upon."

The government has previously defended the administration of NIF funds through the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury, citing the Public Finance Management Act and legal advice.

The PAC is expected to complete its main investigative work this month, with a report targeted for publication by the middle of November.

Mr Pintard stressed that the investigation remained ongoing and that no final findings had been made.

He also renewed calls for PAC proceedings to be broadcast publicly, saying the Speaker had twice refused formal requests for meetings to be carried live on the Parliamentary Channel.