Attorney Wayne Munroe, QC, said yesterday that he believes Baha Mar CEO Sarkis Izmirlian is an "entitled and ungrateful" man. Munroe also told The Guardian that he has been engaged by the Gaming Board and has given the government advice regarding Baha Mar, though he did not reveal what the advice was. Baha Mar owes the Gaming Board more than $11 million.
Munroe, who said he was speaking in his capacity as a private citizen, said he is amazed by the drama between Izmirlian and the government.
"From what he has admitted in his Chapter 11 filings, from what he has confessed to - the government is treating him nicely," Munroe said. "We treat foreigners better than we treat locals. He has some ingratitude that is out of this world. He must not have heard about [Jones Communications CEO] Wendall Jones."
Jones pleaded guilty in 2009 for owing the government $430,000 in National Insurance Board payments. Baha Mar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. District of Delaware on June 29. Baha Mar owes the government more than $58 million. The attorney general filed a winding-up petition against Baha Mar seeking to bring it under the control of the Bahamian courts.
According to the petition, the company owes the National Insurance Board (NIB) $697,446.20, including interest as of June 26, 2015. "NIB called me harassing me for $500 for my housekeeper's NIB, which I have to pay," Munroe said. "And he owes them about $700,000 and he's complaining that they are treating him badly. "NIB nearly killed Wendall Jones with the beating as a Bahamian businessman.
"No one is doing anything to him and he's complaining that he is being treated badly. It is just ungratefulness." Munroe said he's waiting for Izmirlian to say that the government should forgive his NIB debt. "He feels entitled," he said.
Baha Mar has blamed its contractor for its current woes and has said that the government's recent actions regarding payment of its foreign staff and its petition to wind up the company are "deplorable and disgusting". For his part, Prime Minister Perry Christie questioned Izmirlian's mental state and has threatened to open files on the company.
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