Boldens: Guilty On 1 Count, Not Guilty On 18
At approximately 5pm today [June 14] the jury returned a verdict in the trial of David and Antoinette Bolden.
They were found guilty on one count of misleading the Bermuda Monetary Authority, and acquitted on 18 charges of theft and money laundering. The verdict was a majority verdict with 10 – 2 split on the guilty finding, while on the other 18 counts, the split was 11-1 in favour of not guilty.
The married couple, who ran Emerald Capital International, went on trial at the Supreme Court on May 9.
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- Allegations: Police Have ‘Commenced Inquiries’ | Bernews.com | December 30, 2013
A Witch hunt from the beginning. That and the shameful coverage.. Love to put black people on blast with ridiculous front page headlines calling them a thieves.
What happened to the lines brothers from LOM, when they got SEC fines and what not (only business pages).
The justice system works sometimes.
Preto, Get a life. Have a drink of koolaide with LaVerne……When do the missles start raining in…….Where the hell is Lennin when we need hyme…..
Good thing I live on my Yahtch hin Powhint Sharze………Prupganda……
Better get a new fiddle………you’ll need one once Nor Shahore looks like Pambrooke Dahump…….Ping………………………….
You never make any sense…
Kudos to Preto Plato as he/she is correct.
Wrong. All of the judicial and DPP appointments of staff relating to the current court system have been made under the auspices and recommendations of a PLP led Government. Any attempts to characterize this as a racial issue are unfounded.
I believe Preto Plato took aim at the local media not the court system. And that is why I stated that he is correct. Spin it any way you want it, we all know the outrageous bias shown by our press.
The RG (and every other media outlet mind you) has reported on a case involving people who were licensed to administer and have custody of client funds. Why is that not relevant?
Issue isn’t the prosecution of the offense. I believe the DPP should have their independence. My issue is the coverage, full page headlines, printing testimony as fact with bold headlines to slander someones reputation. Quite disgusting if you ask me.
No one asked you and you are clearly an idiot.
Someone told me you were even handed, and i said “what, he has a chip on both shoulders”
Usual PLP inspired blame game. Pathetic.
agreed sandgrownan completely agreed. Only disgusting thing is the fact that the race card is brought up when no matter what the colour the law is the law!
Sworn court testimony is definitely worth reporting. Note: The papers also printed Ewart Brown’s many slanderous statements in the House.
Preto, can you direct us to reporting where testimony was reported “as fact” rather than testimony? Because your statement sounds like absolute rubbish. But if you can direct us to such a report, that would be interesting.
especially if ewart brown is trying to cover his behind http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20110614/NEWS/706149904/1001/news
@ Preto Plato—–please don’t keep us waiting too long for another of your literary masterpieces.
Found guilty or innocent makes no real difference at this point, their careers are pretty much finished in Bermuda. Who in their right mind is going to do business with or hire these two?
Majority of the black folks will probably distrust them because they’ve gone ahead and implicated the king of the anti-white movement now too – silly them!
LOM was in deep trouble – the SEC is not an easy ticket (probably way harder than a typical Bermudian jury). I’m sure LOM has been struggling to re-build their business since their troubles and have probably only been able to survive because they have deeper pockets. When you are entrusted with people’s money, you have to have strong controls in place, strong corporate governance and you have to be honestly reporting to the BMA. From what I have read, these things were lacking. Innocent people who trusted the Boldens have lost their money and no doubt have to re-build their savings – let’s not forget that. The Boldens should have had proper agreements in place for each company so everyone involved should have know what expenses they could recover and what they would be paid.
Mr. Bolden is a good fella. Hope he can go back to Canada and rebuild. I’ll withold other comments
Mr. Bolden is a great guy but in my opinion and what I have observed all this was due to Mrs. Bolden and her poor management and accountant skills.
agreed another witch hunt, they won’t invistage gibbons,dunkley and barritt and print letters to the editor about them but willing to go to court to prove EB did something wrong
Totally agree with Preto Plato, there is a system of racial justice in this country. This is a victory against racism, bigotry and social injustice. Lets face it, Bermuda was built on financial fraud, from property theft, to fraud, to mortgage scams, and everything else.
Above all, Bermuda needs to end this two tier system of justice. Tourist come to the island with guns, dozens of rounds of ammunition, and drugs and get a conditional discharge. A bother or sister makes one mistake and the colonial minded, black skinned white masked magistrates throw the book at them.
To the Boldens…. Your people still love you
You’ve got to be kidding me, they were prosecuted, found not guilty, and that’s it. Nothing more.
really lmao
“This is a victory against racism, bigotry and social injustice”
I hope you relay that message to the hundreds of Bermudians (both black and white) who lost the investments placed with the Boldens.
Jokers…
Looks like something (perhaps more) interesting came out of this case:
http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20110614/NEWS/706149904/1001/news
hello!!!!!
Here we go again!
I hope they investigate this. If the evidence supports the claims, prosecute him. It seems that there is evidence that EB is concerned about. Follow the bread crumbs and if the proof is there, unravel this thing. Not just with him, but with all who have potentially been engaged. MPs and all.
me as well Truth. that was a great read and really shows the way our country was ran under the EB goverment… i mean government lol
That certainly is interesting. Can’t really understand why that itself is not the subject of a news report (i.e. here on Bernews). I hope the whole thing will be investigated thoroughly, and all the findings immediately made public. We’ll see.
Oooofachicky Waawaaa!!!!
Now to restore their credibility ! ! It takes a lifetime to build and a moment to shatter .
They were found not guilty by a jury of their peers…thus their credibility should be restored simply due to that fact….
Not entirely clear. They were still found guilty on one count of misleading the Bermuda Monetary Authority so any chance of starting another financial services business is likely not possible.
So help me out with your logic….LOM get to continue their business in Bda but based on your logic, the Boldens are done on this island….Really!!!!!
Exactly what laws were they found guilty of breaking?
Ok..32n64w…they did what some courts allow certain groups to do (certain), they were allowed to pay fines without admitting guilt!!! They were charged with stock manipulation and I believe paid a $450,000 fine in civil penalties and $654,918 in prepaid interest! No, they didn’t break the law!!!
They were not charged (as far as I know) with any wrong-doing in Bermuda (and continue to be properly and actively licensed and regulated by the BMA – which is staffed and run, vis-a-vis Board appointments, entirely by PLP appointees) nor were they found guilty of any offences in the US. How is their case in any way similar?
How is it similar? They were charged in the US with stock manipulation—your attempt to diminish the severity of the charge is pathetic! So paying a fine amounting to close to a half a million dollars and also returning over $500,000 in prepaid taxes is insignificant?
Naive if you believe that my friend ..
Mark Pettingill……..how do you sleep at night ?? how can you defend Doc Brown ?
Everyone deserves legal representation.
He’s a lawyer,,nuff said!
“Politics makes strange bedfellows.”
ewart brown doesn’t trust his own black lawyers, I AM SCHOCKED !!!!!!!, AFTER ALL, HE WAS THE LEADER OF A VIRTUALLY BLACK GOVERNMENT
Yes, really, its probably a step up from defending drug dealers and gangsters….
I’d be very offended if I were a drug dealer or gangster ..
he’s a lawyer.. thats what they do… their job is based on objectivity
Question: What do you call 20 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?
Answer: A good start…..
DREB says ” We had to Deceive You .” Anyway , It wouldn’t be the first time that man abused The Office Of The Premier . I really hope something tangible comes out of this . Whats down in the dark … Good for you David , expose that Creep .
Interesting “revelation” by Mr. Bolden. What’s that old adage about smoke and fire? This is the first time I’ve heard this type of “allegation” being revealed in the public domain.
As for Mr. Pettinghill representing the X premier…I’m not surprised by this AT ALL. How’s that electronic monitoring proposal coming along Mark?
Grow up..He is doing his job…
He is employed as a lawyer. He is being paid to do his job, if he agrees or not with the —– aka our former premier is another story.
lol dont know how this is the first time you’ve heard something like this… its just never been out this open before..
as for pettingill, he cannot conflict his political career with his normal career. Although he opposes PLP in govt, that is a completely separate issue to how he acts as a lawyer.
..lol it sucks and is painful to read.. but that’s the nature of his job. The original lawyers were simply people that could argue logic better then anyone else.. nothing more, nothing less.
No surprises, he was the UBP mole and now the OBA mole.
if there is no truth to the allegations than why did brown put a gag order on the testimony from being reported — HELLO!!!!
Ask yourselves a simple question: why did Bolden feel the need to make this allegation when its totally irrelevant to whether he stole or laundered money? If it was relevant the Judge would’ve let the jury hear it and allowed it to be published. It wasn’t, so he didn’t. Bolden doesn’t even say he was approached by Ewart directly but that “a Minister” did it. So, why name Ewart and not the Minister? Could it be that the QC defending the Boldens fulfilled his well-known political aims by getting this in the public domain? Don’t take what you’re given as gospel people; think and reason for yourselves. This package is just a little too neatly wrapped to be coincidence.
Seriously? You really believe that this is a conspiracy? Well, the only way to be sure is to have an open and public investigation of this and similar allegations, to enact whistle-blower laws, to enact in anti-corruption laws, to increase the transparency relating to management of the public pensions …
Couldn’t agree with you more. It would help us to put into perspective how we should value the word of a man now convicted of an offence of dishonesty, and a media that couldn’t print enough about Ewart’s travels but hasn’t printed one story critical of Paula’s. Anyone concerned at how she’s getting around DC this week?
Hmmmmm, you are correct, The media is obsessed with sticking Dr. Brown. And I asked the same question as to how in the hell does this alleged incident have anything to do with Mr. Boldens charge? And I’m not going to the defence of Dr. Brown. Just seems quite strange.
It out in court when he was answering questions. Under oath. In court.
It’s interesting that Brown’s attempt to keep it quiet was unsuccessful.
It will also be interesting to see what happens next. If true, the allegations are nothing short of explosive.
But don’t forget there was no mention of which MP told Mr. Bolden this. Just that an MP said Dr.Brown wanted. Why did he not mention who the MP was and let the chips fall where they may. I just find it a bit strange.
What are you talking about? I’m talking about the report allegations which include the allegation that Dr Brown personally asked Bolden several times for 60 percent of the commissions related to Bermuda’s public pension funds. In other words, kickbacks. This is the allegation that has been reported.
“This too shall pass.” could not resist.
LOL
Just because there was no mention in the RG regarding which MP it was doesn’t necessarily mean the MP was not mentioned by name.
…if true, those against dr brown will say i told you so, and those who support dr brown will either still say they’re false, or they’ll say dr brown deserved it as an elected leader of the country..
thats all that will happen.. nothing will come of it
The Prosecution solicited the remarks from Mr. Bolden NOT the defence.
I continue to be shocked at the level of coverage this has received compared to the LOM, Galleon, Madoff etc. scandals. Yes there were articles but not of this type! Billions of dollars involved and all we get is a regurgitation of overseas articles.
Let me give you an example.
Recently we saw such an article saying a company called Gerova had a restricted insurance license. Whilst factually true, it doesn’t emphasize that the company is no longer allowed to do any insurance business at all! More importantly, why has this company got a restricted license. Again one has to read foreign articles about the company, some of which are regurgitated in RG. Not good enough! This company had a share value of $1.8 billion on NYSE, had its shares removed from stock exchange and remains a partner with Argus in a venture called Northstar.
Why aren’t these scandals front page and properly investigated and reported on?
This could well be viewed as political bias and dangerously open to criticism as racism.
I put it down to bad journalism. Just like the “finger” on the front page. Shear sensationalism.
How about the public’s right to know what is going on!
Yawn.
How the h*ll can reporting news , covering events ,court cases etc be ‘dangerously open to criticism as racism ? ? ?’
Oh wait … it raining out right now …. must be racism at work again ..
It isn’t that hard to figure out is it? Oh wait, you must be white.
Where was the picture of Mr. Lines on front page? and many other local people who have been involved in scandals of much bigger impact on Bermuda?
LOM was blasted all over the news when the initial allegations came to light in 2003. If you don’t believe me then go to the archives and take a look for yourself.
The difference between these two cases is that Mr. and Mrs. Bolden were charged with stealing from their company. The funds that allegedly were stolen were funds placed with them by the clients who trusted them. The actions, once uncovered, resulted in many locals (black and white) losing the capital which they invested and trusted with Mr. and Mrs. Bolden.
The LOM case was regarding stock manipulation and never reached court as the SEC did not believe their case was strong enough to pursue litigation. They did not use the funds of their clients to pay off any debts or what not. Thus no local investors were affected by these events as compared to the events regarding Emerald Capital.
Start by comparing apples with apples rather than with avocados…
And can you name other “local people” who have been involved in scandals that resulted in the loss of capital which local investors worked hard to earn and invest?
We can always start with pyramid schemes and a now sitting MP, if you want…
and let’s not forget Televest either …
There definitely were pictures of Mr Lines on the front page. Just as there were pictures of Madoff, and the management of Enron, Tyco, etc before they were found guilty and ended up in jail. All you people who say black people are the only ones ever prosecuted for fraud are just full of complete nonsense.
So ,I don’t display a victim mentality or ‘black excuse’ or live in denial so you assume I’m white ?
A lot of people would say that’s racist of you .. I just think it’s boneheaded ignorance …..
If Ewart brown wants to complete exonerate himself from these allegations, all he has to do is take a lie detector test & present its findings to the public. But I don’t think that’s going to happen. Nevertheless, EWART BROWN TAKE A LIE DETECTOR TEST, EWART BROWN TAKE A LIE DETECTOR TEST, EWART BROWN TAKE A LIE DETECTOR TEST!!!!!!!!
Well….ah never mind. In a few years when it all comes out…..
Preto Plato – The reason that Bermuda has so many issues is because people like yourself pull the race card at the drop of a dime! GET OVER IT! They got caught out that is good media attention because it shows that heck at least someones getting busted for unlawful acts but its all good and great and their innocent if they happen to be black…really get a life! Black White or in between put Bermuda first and get break free of your ignorant mindset!
Preto,
Would you have preferred the media not to have covered this case? Hardworking people, including black ones like my uncle, lost significant amounts of their hard earned money through trusting the Boldens.
There were thousands of everyday Bermudian, black and white and other in ethnicity and colour, who had invested money with them. As a journalist I can tell you that the news that affects the most amount of people in the population, is the news that warrants front page coverage.
I can tell you that LOM did get front page coverage.
What you also appear not to recognise is that the Bolden’s case was tried here in Bermuda while LOM was heard by the SEC in deliberations closed to Bermuda media.
If someone, anyone, mismanaged your money, lots of your money, to the point where you no longer had it, wouldn’t you want them prosecuted? wouldn’t you want to know what was happening in the trial? Or would you simply forgive them because they’re black?
If the latter is the case I’ll be round to meet you to talk investments.
No one is saying racism doesn’t exist in Bermuda- but honestly your comments show a lack of understanding of news reporting, responsibility and ethics.
I can assure you that if any of the reporting was inaccurate, the Paper would be brought up on charges.
“If someone, anyone, mismanaged your money, lots of your money, to the point where you no longer had it, wouldn’t you want them prosecuted?”
You mean… like the Bank of Butterfield’s Board of Directors, who seriously need to be prosecuted! Why haven’t they been busted?!
Depends if they broke any laws. The Bolden’s were crap, but it appears they didn’t break the law with regards to theft etc. They did lie to the BMA it seems.
As for BNTB’s former directors, other than being crap, did they break the law.
Just asking?
How do we know. Did the BMA investigate?
If you read the case recaps provided in the daily, a BMA executive testified that the Boldens did provide misleading information to the BMA regarding their finances. Hence why they were charged and convicted with that particular offense. Unless you think the jury found them guilty on that one (of 19) charges without any sufficient evidence.
As far as BNTB goes…no crimes committeed, no money mis-appropriated…just appears to be pure incompetence (i.e. in the form of terrible investment decisions) from where i sit…
Just wondering, in light of your comment, why did the Government see fit to assist them?
Well said
I should have said, well said, Cat.
Preto: Using the race card at every turn is becoming very old. Play another tune my friend.
People that post on this website are hypocritical. Anytime some one states anything to do with white on black racism you all say stop playing the race card, it’s getting old, blah blah blah. But if you read under the Tony Brannon story alot of these same people are making claims that he was let go because he was white and “not one of them”. And nobody even blinked an eye at these comments. Am I missing something here? It’s fine to accuse the powers that be of racism against whites but mention anything of the well documented history of racism against Blacks in this island and you get “No way, that doesn’t happen.” And just to be clear, I’m not referring to the Bolden case because I think they were guilty as hell.
Whilst I am inclined to agree with some of your thoughts, I think that the TB story and the Boldens’ have one main commonality. The public forum exposed both parties.
TB, is an OTT critic when it comes to state of tourism. He relishes in the coverage received by the media when his cries often fall on deaf ears.
As for the dynamics of the case, the Boldens were cleared of all charges except for misleading the BMA, that will not replace the amount of monies invested by the average joe that cannot and will not be replaced. Now, I might agree with you there on the transparency or disclosure of the financial operations of the pair.
Nobody blinked an eye because nobody believed it. TB is a very annoying person and would have been fired whatever colour he was. I certainly wouldn’t want to work with him.
However, your Gover(n)ment has been calling the race card for years – and it has become very tired as I previously said. It is beyond disgusting.
Everybody knows about the history – but why call the race card at every turn when it simply isn’t true? It only dilutes the true struggle for equality. Time will come when it won’t work anymore and that will be sad when there’s a real case of racism. It is called ‘crying wolf’ and is done far too much in Bermuda.
It’s about time that someone actually came out and, under oath, exposed the allegation, but I suppose, just like the BHC evidence, it will be ignored and denied by those who worshipped at his feet.
I wish some brave taxi driver would come out with the truth about the big GPS issue. Most taxi drivers can tell you that there’s still a huge stockpile of GPS units sitting in a St. David’s warehouse, that are gathering dust. They still talk about it and laugh today. Bring it up on your next taxi ride and you’ll hear all about it just like I did.
You need to read the article again. The judge did not want the original case obscured by something that might be deemed more newsworthy by the local media.
The issue arose from a question (which WAS relevant) as to why Mr. Bolden did not attend a presentation of his wireless technology to the Government and he was allowed to say he felt conflicted, without detailing why. In camera, he explained to the judge that he had been previously approached by Dr. Brown in a prior matter where he had been requested to give the ex-Premier a huge percentage (60%) of his, Mr. Bolden’s, commission relating to an audit of another beleaguared public fund – our pensions. Mr. Bolden stated that he had not attended the Government presentation in question because he didn’t want to be approached again. Yet he still was approached, with outrageous demands.
My hope is that there is some concrete evidence to back up what are now only allegations. Since this type of allegation has been flying around the island for several years, it would behoove Dr. Brown, the PLP and the voting public to have the matter laid to rest, one way or the other.
liars
Shame that people lost their money, shame
Why does Ewart Brown want to go around the world to get to the other side of the street? DAMN, BROWN; JUST TAKE THE TEST.YOU ARE STARTING TO SOUND LIKE EDDIE (SWEET CHEEKS) LONG!!!!!
LMAO ;Mr Pettinghill your job is to make as much money as possible as you Lose the case .
I am So tired of hearing about race…Anywhere else in the world black/white/pink/green/blue whatever colour you are, if you commit a crime you do the freaking time…BUT BERMUDA if you do commit a crime and your black, it becomes a race thing…..ARE YOU ALL IDIOTS…CRIME is CRIME. Obama/Clinton/Queen anyone thats really important,is accused of sleeping with anyone or stealing from their people BLACK/WHITE its all over the WORLD NEWS but in LITTLE DOT IN THE WORLDS MAP BERMUDA with only 2 newspapers, 2 local news channels that we can’t report News because the criminal might be black or belong to a certain party. WHAT!!!!!TO YOU ALL THAT AGREE WITH CRIME, I HOPE SOMEONE ROBS YOU BLIND AND THEN LETS SEE IF YOU WILL PAT THEM IN THE BACK AND SAY, ITS OK MY BROTHER, I AM NOT GOING TO CALL THE POLICE BECAUSE YOUR BLACK…Mr.and Mrs. Bloden were found not guilty and thats because maybe they are innocent, I DONT KNOW but its not because they are black. GROW UP.
So for those posters who were complaining about the Bolden’s case making front page news, is it wrong for the RG to lead with this story:
http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20110616/NEWS/706169953/-1/news
You know it would only matter if it were maybe M. Dunkley or someone for that nature to them. They would be doing the exact same thing they believe is being done here. Perspective is a bi###.
LOL
Well, good strategy if you ask me to throw the attention off of the total mismanagement ( for lack of a better word) of funds at Emerald by mentioning Doc Brown’s name………………just flippin genious on their part!
Lol