OBA Release Findings Of JetGate Investigation
[Updated] OBA Chairman Thad Hollis has released a full statement on the “JetGate” investigation, confirming that the money was sent to an account which was opened with two signatories; Mr. Steven DeCosta and Mr. Derrick Green.
Mr. Hollis said the account “was not authorised by the established protocols of the OBA” and said it received seven deposits of $50,000 from Mr. Landow and his associates, which the Party Executive did not know about until eighteen months later.
“There were withdrawals made from the account in large denominations,” continued Mr. Hollis. “I was shown a print out of these withdrawals that were large withdrawals that were reportedly made to pay the grassroots campaign workers who were working for Mr. DeCosta and Mr. Green. All withdrawals required both signatories to sign.”
Update: Some highlights of Mr Hollis’ statement:
- The account was opened with two signatories; Steven DeCosta and Derrick Green.
- Minister Michael Fahy, the then OBA Campaign Chairman, confirmed the account to the bank
- This account was not authorised by the established protocols of the OBA
- The account received seven deposits of $50,000 from Mr. Landow and his associates.
- From the $350,000, approximately $348,000 was withdrawn from the account
- The Party Executive did not know about the account or the donation until 18 months later
- It is “not clear” why a separate account was established that the Party was unaware of
- According to documents shown to Mr Hollis, the money was spent on campaign related activities
- Derrick Green introduced Nathan Landow and Craig Cannonier in the fall of 2012
- Mr. Derrick Green also had a commercial relationship with Mr. Landow
- It’s “of concern” that Mr Green didn’t tell the OBA Executive he had a relationship with Mr Landow
- During the investigation, Mr Hollis discovered other matters of “equal concern”
- Putting processes in place to avoid this being repeated is important
Mr Hollis added, “This grassroots campaign did coordinate with the Campaign Chairman, Mr. Fahy, on certain initiatives. These were, for example, constituency drops, signage and the team on the ground. These were paid persons led by the two paid OBA Political Consultants; Mr. DeCosta and Mr. Green.
“From the evidence provided to me I am unable to ascertain if any funds were paid to other parties, other than what was shown to me – to pay for the grassroots campaign. I am unable to pierce beyond the BPAC account.”
“According to documents shown to me and presented, money was spent on campaign related activities. However, it should be noted these accounts are unaudited and rely on the veracity of Mr. Green and Mr DeCosta,” said Mr. Hollis.
The Chairman concluded by saying, “I discovered in the course of this investigation other matters of equal concern. However, I have been instructed by Resolution to stay within the original statement of 14th May, 2014 – the donation and only those persons not under the Ministerial Code of Conduct, so therefore containing and limiting the scope to only that which is in this report.”
The full statement from Mr Hollis is below:
On 14th May, 2014, I announced on behalf of the Executive of the One Bermuda Alliance, that there would be an investigation into alleged campaign donations and “Jetgate”.
I stated, the goal of the investigation was to see if allegations concerning donations made by a Mr. Nathan Landow to the One Bermuda Alliance contained any validity, and to disclose those findings. The investigation was launched against the fact that no donations from Mr. Landow had been received in OBA accounts.
Unstated, but inherent in the investigation, was the principle that the OBA is engaged in a new and more transparent form of politics than traditional political parties. Traditional political parties would simply stonewall attempts to get information. This was certainly the modus operandi of the previous governments and the OBA was elected, at least in part, because it promised to be different.
The scope of this investigation has been limited in two ways:
- 1. Per an Executive Resolution; it does not pursue the actions of Cabinet Ministers as these fall under the responsibility of the Premier and the Ministerial Code of Conduct
- 2. It is only possible to determine if any donations were made in and on withdrawal from the account and not to determine the final destination of said withdrawals.
I have attempted to remain unmoved in spite of pressure to conclude and release some findings as final and have persisted in ensuring that any facts that I find have been verified by at least two sources and have not emanated from one source with multiple mouthpieces, so to appear authentic.
One way to distract or destroy a character is to tell many people a rumour and watch it spread, in this manner it appears to be factual, when in fact it is not. Or perhaps to put this another way is this; “facts” that have been repeated remain unproven, and yet persist. This is one of the reasons why this investigation has taken so long; the “facts” had to be that which can be proved, the verification is the process that is time consuming.
Another reason; because of statements repeatedly made in the public, persons who would have assisted with the inquiries were reluctant to provide certain documents until I assured them that the purpose of this investigation was to discover the facts and not a witch-hunt or character assassination as some may have wished.
The Investigation
There were questions to be asked that need answers:
- Was there a donation and who made it?
- Where did it go?
- What was it intended for?
- Did it meet the guidelines laid down by the OBA for donation?
- Is there any evidence that the donations were made in return for any promises, especially in the context of the allegations surrounding “Jetgate”?
Did the OBA receive donations amounting $350,000 and if so, where did the money come from and what was it used for? Simply, we did not receive these funds into the OBA Operating Account and therefore, had no knowledge of this donation or its source [Mr. Landow] until May 2014.
There was an account opened – Bermuda Political Action Club [BPAC] and I have been informed that this account was opened with the purpose of receiving campaign donations to assist the OBA in its election efforts.
- The account was opened with two signatories; Mr. Steven DeCosta and Mr. Derrick Green. When the signatories were attempting to open the account, the Bank of N.T. Butterfield sought confirmation from the Party regarding the opening of the account. Mr. Michael Fahy, the then OBA Campaign Chairman, was telephoned and confirmed the account.
- I have ascertained that for this account to receive funds from U.S. persons, the account had to be opened as a Political Account with the purpose of assisting in a political campaign.
- This account was not authorised by the established protocols of the OBA, which requires all accounts [Campaign, Branch and Region] to be authorised by the Executive and must have a least one member of the Executive [Chairman, Deputy or Treasurer] as an authorised signatory.
- The account received seven deposits of $50,000 from Mr. Landow and his associates. They were not all deposited at the same time or as one payment of $350,000 as reported in the media.
- There were withdrawals made from the account in large denominations, I was shown a print out of these withdrawals that were large withdrawals that were reportedly made to pay the grassroots campaign workers who were working for Mr. DeCosta and Mr. Green. All withdrawals required both signatories to sign.
- This grassroots campaign did coordinate with the Campaign Chairman, Mr. Fahy, on certain initiatives. These were, for example, constituency drops, signage and the team on the ground. These were paid persons led by the two paid OBA Political Consultants; Mr. DeCosta and Mr. Green.
- From the evidence provided to me I am unable to ascertain if any funds were paid to other parties, other than what was shown to me – to pay for the grassroots campaign. I am unable to pierce beyond the BPAC account. From the $350,000, approximately $348,000 was withdrawn from the account. Tertiary accounts are beyond the purview of this investigation and personal accounts are not available to this form of inquiry.
- It is still not clear as to why a separate account had to be established that the Party was unaware of and why these funds could not be transferred to the OBA’s Operating accounts. The reason given by Mr. Green was because of US tax law and rules governing campaign contributions, the account to receive the funds had to be a PAC account.
- In 2012, the Party Executive should have been made aware of the funds and the donations. Full disclosure would have avoided the public relations maelstrom of the last year.
- By opening an account that was not under the usual accounting controls that the OBA has in place, it is the signatories that provide the level of the details as to expenditure and accounting. According to documents shown to me and presented, money was spent on campaign related activities. However, it should be noted these accounts are unaudited and rely on the veracity of Mr. Green and Mr DeCosta.
- Separate accounts should not be repeated in the future, as funds should always be accounted for and donors should have the confidence that their donations are used for the purposes as undertaken.
The other question is why and how did this donation come about?
- Why did Mr. Nathan Landow and some of his Associates want to make a donation to the OBA? What was the genesis of this relationship and were there any expectations fostered?
- Were there any commercial relationships by persons associated with the OBA?
The relationship between the OBA and Mr. Landow commenced prior to the General Election of 2012. Mr. Derrick Green introduced Mr. Landow and Mr. Craig Cannonier in the fall of 2012.
From the Royal Gazette – 22 May, 2014: Speaking from his offices in Maryland yesterday, Mr Landow explained that he first met Mr Cannonier in the autumn of 2012, when he was the leader of the One Bermuda Alliance Opposition. The meeting was set up by Maryland-based political campaigner Derrick Green and resulted in a consortium of seven businessmen donating $300,000 to the OBA’s general election war chest “We were solicited by Derrick Green and we made a contribution based on the visit Mr Cannonier paid us in Washington,” Mr Landow said. “We were instructed by Derrick Green to make out any payments to the campaign committee.
Derrick Green was a representative of the campaign committee and while we didn’t question what his role was, clearly it was a very important one. We were told the funds were going to be used for a ‘get out the vote’ programme to encourage people to go to the polls. We have a similar thing in the US and we know it is very costly. Getting instructions from Derrick Green made sense to us.”
There is evidence that persons connected to the One Bermuda Alliance, did have a commercial relationship with Mr. Landow, post the 2012 General Election.
In a Royal Gazette interview, published on 22nd May, 2014 Minister Crockwell stated: “If I had known Mr DaCosta had a relationship with Mr Landow, had we been told he had a commercial relationship prior to going on the trip, I would not have gone,” said Mr Crockwell. “We don’t know how long he was employed and that there was a contractual relationship with Mr Landow prior to the Washington trip we did not know about. How long that went on afterwards, I don’t know.”
What was not revealed in that interview is that Mr. Derrick Green also had a commercial relationship with Mr. Landow. It was Mr. Cannonier who disclosed that he had become aware of these commercial relationships at a meeting with Mr. Landow on the 11th March, 2013 at the private jet facility at the L.F. Wade International Airport. Mr. Cannonier stated that he was the one that cancelled these agreements and that upon getting aboard the private plane on 20th March, 2013, those contracts were no longer in effect.
However, because of relationships with the then Premier and the OBA Election Campaign, there is an appearance of a beneficial relationship because of professional and personal relationships with the Premier and the Party.
That is a perception, but one that by admission is the reason given by Mr. Cannonier as to why he terminated the commercial relationship of both Mr. DeCosta and Mr. Green. The authority of the then Premier to terminate these contracts is under the purview of Ministerial Conduct and requires clarity.
It is of concern that Mr. Derrick Green did not make known to the Party Executive that he had the relationship with Mr. Landow and Bermuda, LLC. While that may or may not have had an impact upon his role as the Political Consultant to the OBA, it is of utmost concern that if Mr. Landow was exploring development opportunities in Bermuda and Mr. Green had a commercial relationship with him, was there any conflict of interest between the OBA, the Government and Mr. Green?
At the very least, without full disclosure, it gives the party’s opponents the opportunity to claim that party political ties were being leveraged for personal benefit. If Mr. Green had made a full disclosure to the Party, actions would have been taken to mitigate and the Party would not be in the situation where I felt it necessary to conduct an investigation.
Conclusions
It has been confirmed that seven donations were made amounting to $350,000 to an account that was set up by Messrs. DeCosta and Green.
The Party Executive did not know of the existence of the account or the donation until eighteen months later.
The evidence presented shows a scope of work performed by Messrs. DeCosta, Green and their teams during the months leading up to the election in 2012. There were withdrawals made from the Bank Account authorized by Messrs. DeCosta and Green. Both signatories have represented that these withdrawals were used to pay for the campaign efforts.
Going beyond withdrawals from the account, I am not able to ascertain, based upon the evidence presented to me, that the funds were utilized for anything other than what has been presented.
As already stated in the body of this report, it is neither preferred nor good practice to have an account where the agents are the signatories; it removes the controls that donors rely upon to have the confidence that their donations will be utilized for the purposes stated.
This account did not follow the established protocols and while the Party can say it did not receive the funds, the campaign was the beneficiary and therein lays the accountability as to the means and expenditures. The Campaign was managed and run by Mr. Michael Fahy, as Chairman I was not directly involved in the Campaign, by design and it appears now by intent.
Lastly, as there was an established relationship with Mr. Landow as the result of the solicitation for donations, it is disturbing that:
- 1. Agents would then be in a position to be retained in a commercial relationship;
- 2. The possibility of a perceived promise made to Mr. Landow and his associates either prior to the donation being made or as a consequence of the donation.
However, if there was any promise, it never came to fruition, as evidenced in his failed bid for an extension on the Club Med RFP.
Much of the above may be seen as politics as usual. Certainly, it is not very different, and insofar as this investigation has been able to determine, much more innocent, than what we have been led to believe took place between 1998 and 2012.
However, the OBA was formed because its members believed Bermuda deserved and needed a higher quality of governance and integrity in its leadership than it had received. It is in this spirit that the OBA, like Caesar’s wife, must be above suspicion.
Evidence as to inappropriate use of donors’ contributions, or finding that potential overseas investors were made promises of a preferred status, has been limited and has had to rely upon the veracity of persons that may have an interest in preserving their reputations and only provided limited information.
The investigation has found instances that could lead to allegations of wrongdoing:
- Solicitation of funds and receipt thereof, unknown to the Executive
- Poor controls on expenditures, leading to allegations as to who actually received the money
- Commercial relationships with a donor with an interest in building a development in Bermuda, post the General Election
- Meetings with Mr. Landow and a private trip to discuss development in Bermuda
- Lack of transparency with regard to the purpose of the trip and why
Putting processes in place to avoid this being repeated is important, and will be the task of the party executive.
I discovered in the course of this investigation other matters of equal concern. However, I have been instructed by Resolution to stay within the original statement of 14th May, 2014 – the donation and only those persons not under the Ministerial Code of Conduct, so therefore containing and limiting the scope to only that which is in this report.
Thaddeus A. Hollis, JP
Chairman
One Bermuda Alliance
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Still wont be good enough for them . The faux outrage over private money will probably escalate now .
Has anyone ever asked how it was that the PLP even knew about this in the first place if Thad Hollis didn’t ?
Tad, I can help you – some of the money was paid to [school] students to help drop off campaign propaganda. Many parents were up in arms that the school allowed this but could not do anything because of established relationships.
How much of $300,000 was paid to students? how much paid to people not to vote or how much to buy a vote? Maybe even how much to leave the island? Or stop fighting? Silly rabbits
You really think $350,000 was spent on the “campaign” from this account? If it was meant for Campaign purposes there would have been no need to open a separate account with such signatories.
If this is not a clear case of corruption and siphoning off of money given for Campaign purposes, I don’t know what is.
Everyone realizes what this is, although many try to defend the actions or disregard it by pointing fingers at the other party.
Regardless of the Party, Corruption is Corruption. Sadly this was a case of some Party members trying to enrich themselves at the expense of the Party.
Can’t wait to hear about John Deuss Gate.
And you think the PLP didnt do some of the same? Politics is politics, no matter the skin on the sheeps back!
Why would parents be upset by this? Was anyone upset at the books the PLP donated to some schools with the stamp vote for the PLP in them.
LOL
how did a consultant open up a bank of account here and for a political party? Did he violate his permit? If so, Fahy needs to go as his fingerprints are all over this. Private schools got monies for the students to drop off flyers. I know this as a fact as my children were told they needed to help the oba.
Please elaborate on your points. Interested parties would like to know. I for one do not doubt the veracity of your comments, I would just like some clarification for those who do. Please understand, when accusations are made, there should be PROOF in place to back this up, irregardless of what party is in power. I would like to back you, but in absence of proof, I would be loath to do so.
You say that your children were recruited as OBA staffers, please, I beg you to provide confirmation of this, as it (confirmation) would aid all in the pursuit of justice.
Understand my position. Inflammatory comments without any corroboration, are in and of themselves, possible grounds for a slander lawsuit, which I will not be a party to. If there is evidence of wrong doing, please expose it.
Are you F!@#ing SERIOUS, all this Bull S— and ya still bringing up P.L.P.
Well um glad you did because if it was them or de Dr. well need I to go on.
Classic example of de two Bermuda’s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LMFAO
@Tootie-oo I have been thinking the same thing from the get go. This Mr Green should not have been trusted and was probably a PLP plant. Enough said.
If bloggers care to remember, Who said that they were shocked
to find out that Mr. De Costa was on the Jet, and he was also a
business partner with Cannonier. It was Shawn Crockwell, he also said that he didn’t know Mr. Landow, now it’s being revealed…
Just like many of theses OBA surrogates, considering the fact that D. Green has been a long time friend of Crockwell, it has been reported that they went to school together. Reports states that Landow and Green have been working together, If Green has been a consultant for the OBA, as well as the Democratic Alliance, when they were opposition. So who in the world introduced Green to Bermuda? Shawn is in the middle of all of this, Some of you will continue to try and distract the public from theses lies,by blaming the PLP for everything, when the truth is there for everyone to see. You take most Bermudians for fools, the old saying WHAT YOU DO IN THE DARK WILL COME OUT IN THE LIGHT. Than God for the light.
@ filobedo21, so why de Black guy gotta be de plant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mr. Hollis, your insinuations are alarming. We were were hoping that you had the strength of character to rise above party politics and tell the unbridled truth. It appears that you, like all that have come before you, have chosen to tow the party line. You’ve decided that the people don’t have a right know the integrity (or lack thereof) of those who have been elected to lead them. This is disturbing, we have leaders that are acting as if they are a law unto themselves. I’d like to remind you Mr. Hollis, that MPs are not above the law and they are not above the people. Please remember that they are supposed to be servants of the people and not self serving people!!!
Wow 142 comments and counting and not one comment from KANGOOCAR!!!
Makes me wonder!!!
Thank you for thinking about me??? At least I know that you miss my always truthful comments!! I am off island right now, and would rather enjoy what little time I have here!!
If it helps though, I truly believe the OBA needs to go a lot further into this and expose the wrong doings that I believe took place!! I never want them to be seen as acting in anyway that even remotely is similar to the plp way!!! At least they reported back as opposed to what we all know what the plp would have done!!
@ Kangoocar, it would be nice if you stay ya @$$ wherever you are and talk that same S— to de natives of de country they allow you to visit.
Actually I was enjoying de absence of your biased, racist comments.
Kunt-a, you are a very dangerous and damaged person that only adds hate to these comments.
While I do dislike the tone that your comment took, I do appreciate that you seem to appear to be willing to accept that your party CAN INDEED make mistakes too. I give you props on accepting that we ALL are not perfect.
@really, thank you, but you must have somehow missed the severe lashing I gave the OBA/Cannonier when it first came to light about this whole stupid private jet thing!!! There has been a couple of other things they have stupidly done as well, and believe me I let them know!!
I only want a government that is beyond anything unethical, and that is why I am very vocal about the past shenanigans of the plp when they were the government and I will not rest until the truth and facts are known, just like I will keep saying the OBA needs to dig deeper and be honest and tell the truth!! Now I am back on vacation!!!
Just so it is clear, this report is about the Oba,and nothing to do with the plp
Can’t say I’m surprised with the findings.
All is well. Thanks to god he sent the OBA as his angels to conduct the necessary business to save this country and maybe spread a few dollars in the process. They don’t do anything wrong. See all these nasty rumors. Craig only resigned because he wasn’t transparent ???? Fahy is fantastic he just helped set up bank accounts but he didn’t know. Crockwell didn’t know Pettingill didn’t know all these smart people don’t know nuffin
LOL. Yes I know you’re being facetious.
I love sarcasm!
Even if you don’t like or trust Thad Hollis’s report, it is a hell-of -lot-more than your government produced explaining their misuse of my and your money. We are still waiting to find out where our $800,000,000, that is eight hundred million of our dollars went. Still no report.
It’s extremely interesting James “in’it”? The former Progressive Labour Party Government conveniently allude answering a particular question:-(
I,like thousands of others, want to learn what became of all of the unaccounted for $,(if not mistaken)eight hundred million dollars?
The P.L.P. are the best at the, “ole carrot and stick lure” to distract people from focusing in on the things they should / need to be focusing on!
Rather boring James!!
So what about those that fall under the ministerial code of conduct?
Basically this turned into an investigation into two unelected individuals collecting on behalf of the OBA.
That’s not what people wanted to know.
Thad, were any of our elected officials implicated in any wrongdoing?
Sheesh, read the report and you’ll find the answer
“I discovered in the course of this investigation other matters of equal concern. However, I have been instructed by Resolution to stay within the original statement of 14th May, 2014 – the donation and only those persons not under the Ministerial Code of Conduct, so therefore containing and limiting the scope to only that which is in this report.”
Read the report before that first post, re-read it and still haven’t found an answer.
In the matter to which he was investigating, with the information he was legally allowed access, no one in a ministerial position did anything appropriate with the possible exception of Cannonier’s dismissing the arrangements of Green and DeCouto with Landow, a situation which requires more clarity.
Now, he did find other concerning things, but they weren’t directly part of his investigation.
Yes, I know, we all wish now that the investigation covered more than it did, but such is the way of things. We got the answer to the questions that were asked at the time, not the questions we have in general.
Personally, I think more needs to be looked into given what Mr. Hollis has said
make that “… no one did anything inappropriate …”
Didn’t he implicate Minister Fahy?
yes he did.
yes fahy knew so you tell me why did craig go
Well its like in de movies, de Black guy always dies first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LMFAO
OMG LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Forgive my igrunce, but this seems like a tax evasion scheme by the US parties… when can we expect the IRS to get involved?
Secondly, I do take exception to Mr Hollis stating: “I discovered in the course of this investigation other matters of equal concern. However, I have been instructed by Resolution to stay within the original statement of 14th May, 2014 – the donation and only those persons not under the Ministerial Code of Conduct, so therefore containing and limiting the scope to only that which is in this report.”
WTF? are you at OBA doing???!!!! What are these other “matters”? Thad and Milk Boy – you are losing votes. you are losing credibility in a big way. (not to mention the distention in your ranks).
“scope” is a legal ruling. IF the police search your house looking for “x” they can not ask question about “y” even if they might see it.
What ignorance is that. If the police come to my house looking for stolen goods and they find marijuana growing of course they are gonna arrest me for d herb.
If someone in the US sends money outside the US, how is that evading taxes?
Yes Serengeti, point taken, but my bet would be that those funds never saw any part of the US financial system before they arrived in Bermuda.
I’d accept an IRS investigation. (but then that’s a whole huge barrel of worms… much bigger that the proverbial “can o’ worms”
And we still haven’t got to the “..other matters of equal concern.”
Looks like OBA is covering up something
So you’re accusing the donors of tax evasion? Pure speculation. What evidence do you have? Or did you just make it up out of thin air?
It’s ok, it happens a lot.
I am looking for the prediction I made it is eerie….
And before people start to throw stones, let us not all forget the glass house of the PLP campaign fund expenditures. I am not saying either are satisfactory, I am just saying that before anyone comes forth lambasting the OBA but touting the PLP as holier than thou that we remember.
John Deus seems to come to mind…. Remember him and his large donation to the plp.
@C
Oooops,
Remember, selective memories are at work here.
“I discovered in the course of this investigation other matters of equal concern.”
Not good. All focus will now shift to those matters.
Honestly, SHOULD now shift to those matters.
But we understand that the group currently in exclusive negotiations with the Govt, for Club Med site, is related to Mr. Landow – and often used to place rival bids for the same investment opportunities
no one pays $350,000 gets rejected and walks away without protesting come on we aren’t stupid, why does everything with these guys have to come from a scripted smoke and mirrors Strategy Report, like the whole surrogate report thing
cheeckums
Because when White establishments get caught out its a misunderstanding but when a Black establishment gets caught out its a SCANDLE.
Welcome to the two Bermuda’s !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you can’t spell your name and you cant spell SCANDAL…smhuck!
Ok, but what I said is TRUE, any comment on that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the first i have heard that the South American family with the successful Club Med RFP is in any way shape or form related to Landow. Or are you just trying to s start another scandal.
To whitewash is a metaphor meaning to gloss over or cover up vices, crimes or scandals or to exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data.[1] It is especially used in the context of corporations, governments or other organizations.
Straight from the mouth of one who should know!
Your should know Mr. Famous.
Who pays you.
And where is my and others $800 Million.
Shalom.
More useless ramblings from Famoussss.
Unfortunately it sounds like the OBA have gift wrapped something for him to ramble on about!
That’s telling them Chris.
Interesting, nothing different from what I pretty much expected that we’d here, however, I’m now more interested in what was not said, or could not be said.
One name in particular comes to mind as being a concern, and I somehow doubt that I’m alone in this.
I care less about where the money came from (it was private money after all) and how it was spent, but I do want to know what the contributors thought they were getting for their money. Not cool.and a bit of a gamble…there was no guarantee the OBA would win the election.
That said, those throwing stones need to be careful. I don’t think this is quite the smoking gun they were looking for and more of a distraction.
“I have ascertained that for this account to receive funds from U.S. persons, the account had to be opened as a Political Account with the purpose of assisting in a political campaign.”
Where the money came from is very important. Why do we accept campaign contributions from people who have no relationship to Bermuda? Just as you say, Sandgrownan, what do these people expect to receive? Or more to the point, what were they promised?
It seems hardly likely that wealthy overseas businessmen who pop up out of nowhere with hundreds of thousands of dollars in their sweaty paws care anything about the welfare of the Bermudian public.
Accepting money from them should not be legal.
Disagree. I don’t care who paid what to whom as long as it wasn’t public money. If the donor is in violation of any laws, Bermudian or overseas, that’s for him/them to deal with. I don’t care how it was spent either.
I do care, however, what the donor thought he was going to get in return and from whom, and if anything was actually promised or given.
You would’ve not said that if was Dr. Brown.
Classic example of Two Bermuda’s
LMFAO
Mumbojumbo, you are indeed one twisted individual. No wonder you relate to Ewart.
There’s a hug e difference between public and private money numb nuts.
When we accept campaign contributions from overseas we essentially sell the policy of the Bermuda government to people who have no interest in Bermuda’s success. Whether they in fact receive the benefits they expect is irrelevant. It is a very dangerous policy that will bite us on the butt before too long.
$350,000 is peanuts. Where it came from is important.
All you OBA supporters are mighty quiet?!!!
Read above numb nuts. I do predict much gnashing of teeth but the Betty’s of the world would never do this of the PLP.
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bans US persons from engaging in this kind of behaviour
Ok, thanks for this OBA.
Where is the PLP’s investigation into all the donations to the PLP?
Oh don’t you worry its coming down the pipe , why do you think the PLP is in panic mode. As an OBA supporter , I do think this whole jetgate affair stinks and should be brought to light. As a taxpayer, I demand more of our politicians on both sides.
I agree Barracuda. This does not look good and specifically it doesn’t look good for Fahy, even if the real culprits are De Costa and this Greene guy.
If it sounds like corruption and it looks like corruption it just might be slightly corrupt.
How?
It was really nobody’s business how the money was obtained and spend. They were smart to put it to rest by releasing the findings. Transparency is much better then simply stating ‘that is a plantation question’ LOL
“I discovered in the course of this investigation other matters of equal concern. However, I have been instructed by Resolution to stay within the original statement of 14th May, 2014″
Wasn’t it just yesterday the OBA was singing the praises of & calling for the implementation of PATI & transparency? So that the government could be as the premier put it “More Open, Accessible, Accountable”? I guess he means only after it’s implemented, until then it’s business as usual huh?
Depends. If it was an internal OBA matter, it’s none of your business. However, then if it’s access to Ministers or more they thought they were buying (for sake of argument) then you may have the ghost of a point.
Nothing to do with BDA GOVMT PATI as its a private matter (OBA Party administration). Hollis is being courteous in making most of the findings public. Nothing more to chew on…next!
Sounds like possibly stealing or at least misappropriation of funds. Also sounds like those fella were the fall guys. There will truly be no way to account for where the money actually went. It’s easy to say that it was ultimately used for the OBA campaign but I smell a rat.
Agreed, but at least it’s not public funds…..
A bit more than we got out of the previous government for the missing $800,000,000. But I will admit, it should never have come to this, giving the PLP more ammunition to destroy Bermuda is not good and I thought these guys were smarter than this.
What does what happened between 1998 and 2012 have to do with this report? We know what happened during these years. The OBA is the only party involved in this event. Stop insulting us, please.
He’s providing context. But you know that.
Let me get this straight…campaign workers were getting paid and nobody asked how? And if it is “not clear” why a separate account was established that the Party was unaware of, just ask Mr. Fahy.
…WOW…I will need to read this a couple of times before i comment… oops i just commented.
Thankyou Mr.Hollis for your candid report.
Even if he seems to apologise for its lack of findings? You are very easily pleased.
One term government.
How much $ did Landow give to the PLP before the last election?
“The account was opened with two signatories; Mr. Steven DeCosta and Mr. Derrick Green. When the signatories were attempting to open the account, the Bank of N.T. Butterfield sought confirmation from the Party regarding the opening of the account. Mr. Michael Fahy, the then OBA Campaign Chairman, was telephoned and confirmed the account.”
“This grassroots campaign did coordinate with the Campaign Chairman, Mr. Fahy,”
Seems fairly clear Senator Fahy knows much more .Heck According to Mr Hollis Senator Fahy never even told the OBA Executive about this money.
Straws. You’re clutching at them.
Do you still want to deny people their human rights? If yes, the. Your comments are irrelevant.
Bit harsh! For once I am in agreement with Mr Famous.
how dear them link this money to ‘grassroots’ just that word is condescending. the oba links ‘grassroots’ people with their alleged corruption, shaking my bloody head.
Ya right, Bermuda don’t use (Grass Roots) to identify Oligarchy associates. WTF
Give it up Famoussss.
Minister Fahy must go too
Why?
Who are Messrs DeCosta and Green, why are they the ones opening the account and how are they related to the OBA? Some trickery here.
Ok. we have heard about Dacosta and Green, why have we not heard about Cannoniers’s role in all of this scandal ?
What scandal?
Thank goodness that this report has be released. Whether we like it findings or not–it shows a maturity on behalf of the party apparatus to discuss uncomfortable matters.
I would have loved to read a report on the re-location of the Uighurs in Bermuda by the party apparatus of the Government of that day. Just sayin!
I think that would be very compelling and we should learn how the Uighurs came to be resettled to our island paradise because it is afterall a part of our history!!!
Ok, now dealing with the matter at hand.
LMFAO
Good job OBA. One thing you can bet on, will never see PLP show any of their campaign finances. Thank God Cannonier and his “shady kitchen cabinet” were exposed. Suggest he now resign from HOA and OBA fire Mr. Green. Small potatoes compared to PLP’s $800M of PUBLIC money. Time to move forward.
With that being said we have to find Scotland Yard INCOMPETENT
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LMFAO
Please stop posting. You are obviously mentally unstable and a danger to Bermudians. You are one twisted $ucker
Prob hard for most people to absorb this report as we have never seen a political party actually investigate anything let alone release those findings to the public… that goes for the PLP and the UPB.
Was any law broken?
I need a rum.
Ill get you some from Burt, and give you enough for Cup Match.
LMFAO
@swing voter – you are right it was not anybody’s business until the OBA made it so. I dont care what happened to the money as it was the OBA’s to use as they pleased, I dont even care about the other issues that Mr Hollis alludes to that also is OBA business. But I do care that for the first time we are hearing that MR. Dacosta was a paid OBA consultant! This is the same guy who was said to be working for the former Premier and was bumming a lift on the airplane! The OBA cannot now expect anyone to believe that Members of their cabinet including Mr Crockwell did not know that he was a paid OBA consultant when he boarded that airplane!
You have it slightly wrong, it wasn’t that they didn’t know he was an OBA consultant; what they claim to have not known was that he had business interests with Mr. Landow.
Actually you have it slightly wrong.Shawn Crockwell said on the Sherry J show that he didn’t even know who Dacosta was and that he met him on the Jet and was told that he was bumming a ride.
Remind me; How much PUBLIC money did Andre Curtis (Dr Brown’s campaign manager) get under the pretense of Faith Based Tourism?
Hi am sorry Common Sense–this is totally irrelevant as Faith Based tourism was an initiative that appealed to a large segment of our community and an issue that was smart to explore to regenerate our tourism product–
LOL depends on who you ask if it was smart or not! It was nothing but a waste of money and you know it!
LOL are u kidding me? that’s a load of horsisht and the event numbers prove it!
Bwwhahahaha!
Really, because it became quite clear that Mr. Curtis got himself caught with his pants down when asked to produce evidence of his work. What he scrambled to put together was thin and vague, in some event he said he had a hand in, the organizers didn’t know he was involved and other events weren’t even tourist based. He couldn’t even answer to how he came up with the numbers of visitors he claimed came to his events.
And lets not forget that all the vendors for this ‘initiative’ confirmed they were never paid by Mr. Curtis via the taxpayer monies provided to him.
Facts are so pesky sometimes.
so if it was so smart – why wasn’t Curtis, EB smart enough to pay the people they invited to this island to regenerate our tourism product. Pahleese and then Curtis gets locked up for doing stupid
You don’t remember the instruction to “cobble something together” to justify bunging $30,000 to Curtis one afternoon?
That was PUBLIC money given to a friend of You Know Who for NOTHING.
How many tourists did faith based tourism bring here? None. Zilch. Because it was all a sham to give money to F&F.
Disappointed…. Personally don’t care as it’s not THE PEOPLES money… BUT, the OBA agreed to come back with a report; and after much wait, we get this????? More questions to be asked than answers provided. And on what, a Parties own financial business?
The introduction sets you up for the grand-finally by first claiming the PLP would not have attempted to even answer “This was certainly the modus operandi of the previous governments and the OBA was elected, at least in part, because it promised to be different”.
Well guess what; you should NOT have answered.
But you made the commitment and we get ““I discovered in the course of this investigation other matters of equal concern. However, I have been instructed by Resolution to stay within the original statement of 14th May, 2014.
Wow…..
You have got to be kidding me. This report was nothing but a escapade. I totally agree now with the opposition, OBA you need to pack your bags. Given a chance to come clean and you still choose the take the perimeters to avoid stepping on fellow members toes. Do you really think Bermudians are blind, or pineal glands are still fluoridated? Honesty and transparency? “Lies and secrets are like cancer in a the soul. They eat away what is good and leave only destruction behind.”
Before you ask the PLP to come back, you should ask them to come clean. Both parties are entrenched in politics, so it doesn’t surprise me that much that the OBA has had a questionable incident, however, if given the choice between which morally questionable party I would prefer to have in government, I would still choose the OBA as the PLP track record on governance is one of historically bad failure. Trying to find an honest politician or party would be pretty much like seeing a leprechaun ride a unicorn down Front Street. No, when you vote, you look for the team you think will best do the job, with the least amount of cost, and to that the PLP have demonstrated and abysmal failure for.
*to take
Bermuda, they only give us what we take!!How much B#*@ S*@T will it take?! OBA/UBP SUBDEFUGE & ALLEGED CORUPTION, they must DWL at us as a collective smdh!!!
Puhleeze! The PLP are the poster boys for SUBDEFUGE & ALLEGED CORUPTION
$348,000 to hand out campaign posters and put up signs… Sweet!
Where do I sign up for the next election?
Totally Irrelevent. Point made; but was the money actually used to promote Faith Based Tourism.. I think that we all know the answer to this.
Tit for Tat, you kill my dog I kill your cat.
LMFAO
It is neither, there was nothing illegal about what was done under our laws, as no contracts or favours were awarded as a result of the donations. This is actually a similar practice to what is done in many other countries, a political action fund is set up, so that large donators can put money there rather than having to report it as going the to a political party. As for the question about why this was done this way, it would have been a requirement for Mr. Landow to donate as he and his group could not directly contribute due to certain US laws. Why the OBA executive were never made aware is another question. How much Mr. Fahy knew about when he authorized the account is another, however, I would warn the PLP about their house, before they start throwing stones. They are no cleaner, the only difference is the OBA has taken the unprecedented step of airing their laundry out to the open, making them already 100% more transparent than the PLP. Even though I do believe there are some things not mentioned.
‘From the $350,000, approximately $348,000 was withdrawn from the account’
So… who withdrew the money?
Who cares?
The 2 signatories withdrew the money. Poor Bermuda look what we have for political parties and public servants none of them can wait to get their snouts in the trough. SHAME
Who cares and what business is it of anyone?
It’s private money given privately and spent privately.
Kind of like when, not so long ago, a private individual gave $150,000 a year “clothing allowance” to a new and unsophisticated premier. Where are the public records of that? Nowhere.
Ahhhh are we forgetting this money is tied to JET GATE which is the reason ya boy resigned. DUUUHHHH
LMFAO
This investigation was totally unnecessary and showed political immaturity of Mr. Thad Hollis. The monies in question were private funds which were used for the OBA campaign. If there were aggrieved persons they could have pursued the normal process for redress. I have never heard of a political party conducting a public investigation for private donations anywhere. WIth that said, the PLP have some nerve making noise over this. Where is the evidence of wrong doing? Landow did not get the project. Oh he is connected to the selected developer. Please. We had hundreds of millions of public dollars go missing during the PLP destructive tenure. I can’t wait to see the Police investigation on that!!!
Scotland Yard gave a thumbs up.
Forensic accountants are still working. Don’t get too excited, its all coming to a head. Wonder what excuse you’ll have then.
This is a ridiculous defense, to say this was a private donation and so one can steal it and do as he wishes.
More than anyone, it is the OBA that should be worried that this thing happened where some members essentially spirited the money meant for the party and, therefore, they made the Premier pay the price by having him resign.
If there was absolutely no wrong-doing, there would be no reason for anyone in the OBA to ask Cannonier to resign.
The bottomline is OBA has accepted wrongdoing by having the Premier resign. Hollis has mentioned in the last part of the report that he has “not revealed all he has found out”, which leads us to believe that more has been covered up than revealed. If that leaks slowly, more trouble for the party.
I am an independent and do not support either party.
At least the OBA actually investigate allegations of wrongdoings within their own party.
The PLP just deny deny deny.
Much smarter strategy by the PLP because some fools will support a party no matter what it does as if it’s a sports team rather than a government.
The release of the report on the findings of the jet-gate-investigation and the case of the missing $ 300 000? YOU ARE GUILTY-BUT NO ONE IS GUILTY?
There is no “missing $300,000″.
Some private individuals gave some donations, which were spent privately on campaign activities.
It’s pretty similar to a rich individual financing a political campaign and giving a neophyte premier $150,000 a year as a clothing allowance. Does that sound familiar?
It’s not missing is it, and in case it was private money.
Do try to keep up.
Alvin is incapable of keeping up. He just falls behind and makes up his own version of events to compensate for his illiteracy.
Thanks for your post–
This kinda sounds familar from the “we had to deceive you days”.
Remember the BHC situation. Yikes!
The only diffrence is that the “we had to deceive you days” involved the public purse and a whole bucket full of dosh!!!
Crazy how things swing in round abouts when we look at it in clear sober light of day!
Retard….@mrwilliams. The “had to deceive you” remark wasn’t in reference to any funds, it was in regards to challenging for the leadership of the party around the election and the negative impact it would have had on the reelection of the PLP. So please stop trying to cross hairs. Furthermore this statement, because its not a report is a vain effort to follow up on a promise the OBA wish was never made. Thad Hollis is a man tied by the party and in his good intention promised transperancy. Unfortunately the OBA know the truth is an unwanted pest. I hear a lot of the posts before and after this stating this was private funds etc. but what was the funds given for? “Grassroots campaigns” really? What businessman you know is going to be approached by people he says he doesn’t know and give them after he’s been asked $350k? That doesn’t happen. It’s private money yes… But isn’t private money what bribes are paid with, pay to play opportunities etc. the OBA supporters (if there’s any left other than the eight or so that keep showing up on these bernews blogs) need to open you eyes and see that this party has started off on the wrong foot and need to be held accountable. Lastly my biggest pet peeve in all of this is whenever the OBA has been called out they throw in “well the PLP did it or worse”…. Listen your platform was to do things differently than why are you now saying we can do wrong cause they did wrong. If your different than be different. If you say the PLP ruined the country and your doing the same things they did where will we be in 14 years under this OBA government????
At the end of the day, no public money was spent and no political favours given. So, what’s the big deal? NEXT….
Kinda smells a bit doesn’t it?
Private money donated and spent privately. No public money involved at any point.
2 down 1 more to go
I can’t figure out the big deal here. This was private money donated to a political party and spent on its campaign. No question that the donor may have, and probably did, expect some consideration for his donation. Please tell me any donor who wouldn’t … in any country..
Not that tit for tat is useful but I wonder what John Deuss would have to say if asked if he donated to the PLP in 2007 and what he might have expected from them ?
On another point, thanks to the PLP for staying away from the House. Maybe now we can get things done withoput all the sheer assisninity coming from the mouths of all of them..has anyone noticed how pleasant the last 2 weeks have been despite 2000 sheep walking UPHILL to an empty government House…
Hey Sky Larkin,
There isn’t a big deal and on top of it an investigation was held. Its called transparency.
Will it be enough–of course not.
We have gotten so used to the issues being spun so furiously that the truth of the matter gets spun out of control.
This is a basic political tactic used worldwide when a political element is void of ideas/solutions that are relevant to the problems of the day.
Spin, deflect and create a new situation.
Crazy thing is– You can’t spin away:
1) Billions of dollars of debt;
2) Historically high unemployment;
3) lack of international business confidence;
4) polarization of the community;
5) lack of regard for basic human rights.
All againsty the backdrop of an unfriendly approach to small offshore finanical centers.
Good news sky larkin–the youth of Bermuda are seeing this for exactly hwat it is–and will reward votes accordingly–
Watch this space!!
well said..
Oh Oh….is it just me or did the OBA just commit political suicide by not just staying silent (a la PLP) on this? This is going to get dissected every which way from Sunday in order to twist this into the biggest conspiracy Bermuda has ever seen. No I’m not taking about the missing $800M
OBA,get rid of the consultant Mr.Green and Mr.Decosta.
This report falls short of many persons expectations for a variety of reasons. Some wanted ammunition, others wanted vindication, others simply didn’t care.
It is unlikely that any heads will roll when one bears in mind that no other party has ever been forced to publicly discuss their contributions. Therefore no marker is in place.
One thing is certain, all political parties will handle these matters very differently in the future. Hopefully, we will pay greater attention to how OUR money is handled!!
The PLP masqueraded as a government for 14 years; the OBA are busy mastering politics with nothing to show for it … sigh!!
I would hazard a guess Mr. Landau knows exactly how and by whom his money was spent – perhaps Bernews could ask him. In the meantime, it seems that the OBA has to lie to us too. Mr. Lister, hurry up and get on with it please.
Who withdraws cash nowadays…i work in the banking field and once funds hit accounts we can track it no matter where it ends up…i assume the resolution was required because they know where the material amounts ended up…
Mr. Hollis makes it look like he is protecting himself.
If he did not have a working relationship with his OBA Cabinet and never worked with Green then he was seriously disconnected and living in some other world. Who appointed him anyway? It looks like he is damaging his own party and his OBA leaders.
If Mr. Cannonier didn’t do any thing wrong then re instate him or the whole party (or the old UBP faction) will look like the a leaderless bunch of individuals with their own agendas.
In fairness how can an OBA investigation not touch more specifically on the others at least in some degree especially the Minister of Tourism.
The previous PLP leadership under Dr. Brown and Cox had worked the gaming angle with the old Club Med property in fact it was Bazarian who apparently introduced and recommended Landow for the property as a Casino Developer.
I am finding it very difficult to believe that $350,000 was donated to the OBA election campaign and party executives didn’t know anything about it….for 18 months??
All of Mr. Hollis’ concluding statements seem to put maximum distance between the OBA party and any possible wrong doing.
I think Mr. DeCosta should give very serious consideration about who he chooses as his friends.
Did anything in the brown/cox administration cause you any concern?
Thought not
$350K was less that Ewart spent on faith based tourism, and this $350k was private money.
How about Rangers Club and a certain PLP MP handing out…
Now it’s time to investigate the findings of the OBA jetgate release !
Just because you put …”gate” at the end of a word..doesn’t mean there’s a scandal.
How about Uighargate, Berkeleygate, BHCgate, Cedarbeamsgate etc.
Shall i go on?
Repeating a lie will never make it true … The reality of the lie takes on it’s own life in your warped imagination … Remove the hood Sandgrownan !
Like the alleged wide-spread theft of properties around Tuckers Town in the 1920s?
Got it.
EW
Same applies. Just because you chose to ignore written and oral history doesn’t negate the fact that it actually happened .
“Just because you chose to ignore written and oral history doesn’t negate the fact that it actually happened.”
And just because you choose to ignore written and oral history doesn’t negate the fact that it didn’t.
Written and and oral history does not support allegations of wide-spread land-stealing. Yet this lie has been repeated over and over again, and is taken as truth by many.
As you point out, repeating a lie does not make it true. Especially when there’s clear evidence that it is a lie.
EW
Yes go on with your excuses.
We have no laws surrounding campaign financing. This whole thing may be unpalatable but it is legal and not suited for public consumption. Where the argument of the OBA zealots falls apart is in this “let’s investigate contributions to the PLP”. No, sorry, if Landow’s donation is no-one’s business then neither is whoever’s donations to the PLP. Its simply a matter of principle, or are you all so blinded by hate that you’re prepared to support two different sets of rules? The reason this is important however is because of the cover-up and the inability of some key people to tell the whole truth. Quite how Fahy has survived this is amazing and in this land of milk and transparency in which we now live i look forward to reading of his mea culpa and some sanction from his premier or his party.
As for the lame comparisons with all sorts of assorted trivia from the past, the PLP is the most investigated government in the history of Bermuda. Just because none of you like the results of those investigations or the lack thereof is not a reason to consistently treat us to your fables like cedar beams and the like.
Unwittingly, Mr. Hollis is perfectly summed up the OBA/UBP’s time in Opposition and the continuing refrain of its supporters even today, and i happily quote:
“One way to distract or destroy a character is to tell many people a rumour and watch it spread, in this manner it appears to be factual, when in fact it is not. Or perhaps to put this another way is this; “facts” that have been repeated remain unproven, and yet persist.”
That sure does sound familiar…..and he even gets the timeframe right…..1998-2012-The era of the politics of personal destruction – brought to you by the OBA/UBP in opposition. And why are you enduring it now? The biblical reference is “you reap what you sow.”
Unbelievable how much time & energy has been put into this issue… & it is not even public money being questioned on.
Too bad the same concern & effort was not put into the dissappearance of millions during the 14 year PLP experiment.
Question: What was the relationship between Minister Crockwell and Derrick Green prior to Jetgate? Hmmmm! Interesting! Was he the one who brought Green into the equation? If not, who did? IJS!
Oh you OBA supporters! Keep looking under that same rock for the $800 million! Why don’t you ask those thieving expats how much money did they steal then fled the island?
Racist.
Sandgrownan implies that the thieves are black . How racist is that ?
Your sick
Oh, don’t worry about the youths vote, they are always full of surprises!! Wink wink!
hey need peace.
Thanks for your post. The youth vote certainly is and IF and I say IF the opposition party is worried about PRC getting votes via status they are missing a potentially large block of young voters who at this stage cannot at all relate to the current approach of the party or its leaders who to us appear to be looking in the review mirror instead of forward.
It will be a weakening surprise. Wink wink!
To quote a line from a movie, “the players have changed folks, but the game is still the same”.
I’m having a lot-of-trouble believing most of this *Fairy-Tale*!!! It has taken Hollis and his OBA cronies “months” to come up with some sort of plausible explanation for the $350K and this is the best they can do???
I could have put this “story” together in less than a week!!!
It’s. not. public. money. Understand?
Why do you care?
The trip to the Playboy Mansion wasn’t public money either. Why have you cared for 10 years?
Yes it was, came out of the tourism slush fund.
157 comments and still nothing from KANGOOCAR!!! The number one supporter of the beloved,transparent and honest OBA.Lets see how confident you are in the people and call an election.Bermudians first?? HAHA
You do realize there is still an ongoing investigation into the plp right? What will you have to say when the REST of the warrants are issued? Nothing…you will have nothing to say because you made this name up to spread silly propaganda for your party and “Shady OBA” would then look pretty stupid huh?
Even paid bloggers take a vacation .
At least the OBA got rid of untoward action,the last govt revelled in it.
Okay people who is in for campaign contribution laws…Oops that’s not the point mud slinging is..sorry guys carry on…
OBA will be defended to the end I thought the PLP were the sheep drinking the Koolaid guess Koolaid comes in a variety of flavors cherry is the flavor this week hahahahaha SMDH the struggle continues
I’d be up for campaign financing laws.
Were the withdrawls cash if not everything is trackable
@ Youth vote on issues of the day – I’m not understanding what you’re saying. Had it not been for the Chief Justice pointing out an ambiguous section of the law, it would’ve been the same issue the opposition and other groups are advocating to be amended. If your young voters are basing their opinion upon obtaining status through the back door then certainly they shouldn’t deserve it.
Another thing – if you or they think the OBA is any better, based on their record so far, this will be very interesting. There is something to say for someone who tries to speak for another. Like I said,they are full of surprises!
well tell me this why did Craig resign…? ObA IS A FARSE…..poor Craig they used no lube on you…that boy Fahy need to go…shame on you ….oh that phony milkman your turn is coming.
He resigned because he misled parliament. Do try to keep up
So I ask you, if Minister Crockwell and Derrick Green have been buddies since college and Crockwell brought him into the campaign and was on the jet, don’t you think he’d know more about this Jetgate issue than he purports? If Cannoniere had to resign so should Michael Fahey and Shawn Crockwell. The OBA’s hoping that this issue will have dissipated come November, but that statement wasn’t worth the ink or paper it was written on. The issues that Thad Hollis didn’t mentioned screamed louder than the issues he spoke of. How unfortunate!
Apparently Derrick Green is persona non grata to the OBA now and is strongly suspected of leaking insider information to the PLP. Haven’t you always wondered how the PLP ever heard about the jet ride, who was on it and that $350k was donated to a private account? No low is too low for the PLP distruction machine and Derrick Green
Your sick
But, but, but, Shawn Crockwell and Derrick Green are best buddies from school days! Fahy, Crockwell must resign. So much for Deadgate Mr. Dunkley, and the fact that this report has your prints all over it, you should resign too!@ SMH, do you think Crockwell is innocent? Are any within the OBA innocent?
.Who is Gerry Evans
And Derrick Green, a US-based political consultant who worked for the OBA in the run-up to the 2012 general election, claimed party Chairman Thad Hollis had got key facts wrong.
Mr Green, who is based in Maryland, said he did not introduce then-Premier Craig Cannonier to US-based tycoon Nathan Landow, who was one of the American donors to a grassroots election campaign war chest of $350,000.
He added that he had never met Mr Landow before he and Mr Cannonier were introduced to him by his business associate Gerry Evans in the summer of 2012 in Maryland.
Gerard E. Evans, ended with a 30-month prison term and a blistering message to the state’s citizenry from the sentencing judge that ”there is a mess in Annapolis.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/23/us/maryland-case-puts-focus-on-abuses-by-lobbyists.html
Seem like the OBA went to the underbellies of society to get gaming here..
It is best for our island to call a new election or for a few OBA MPs to switch to make that happen.
The kind of racist vitriol you read from Bernews bloggers by OBA supporters in this article and others will only continue to make the OBA a one term Govt. Remember such comments are read by more than just the bloggers themselves but huge masses including swing voters. Bdians are not stupid. Remember the racist nonsense thrown about in the lead up to the 1998 election?. Boogeyman man tactics of businesses fleeing because of the change in Govt, pic of a dreadlocked MP ‘s face in crosshairs, etc. etc. making civil servants the scapegoats of every bad thing happening in Govt who happen to be majority Black. Calling Black Bdians incompetent, PLP supporters blind sheep and Kool Aid drinkers, etc. Yup. These bloggers are just a déjà vu of that same old rhetoric. Whether you want to admit it or not the PLP did a lot for businesses and for the country during their 14 years. And it was Min Richards who recently hiked up the debt to over 2 billion with that advanced borrowing. So go ahead. Every time the PLP gets kicked with the racist rhetoric it will be kicked up the steps not down. They will be the next Govt with fresh faces and ideas. And the people will be willing to work with them. Not this untrustworthy OBA who showed their hand early.
Well spoken my friend ,I couldn’t have said it any better.
And the church says Amen