ACTING FNM Chairman Brensil Rolle yesterday denied that party Leader Dr Hubert Minnis and former Chairman Michael Pintard are locked in a bitter battle over party donations, branding the allegation as “not true” and “damaging” to both men.
He was contacted to explain the basis of an earlier statement sent out by the party, which said that there is no conflict over financial matters between Dr Minnis and former Senator Pintard.
The statement came in response to a recent tabloid article that alleged the men were fighting over donations that Mr. Pintard is allegedly holding for the party.
Mr. Rolle told The Tribune that while the party normally does not respond to tabloid reports, the claims made in the article needed to be addressed.
The tabloid article further claimed this alleged conflict was the reason why Dr Minnis compelled Mr. Pintard to resign as chairman and senator last week. This came after it was revealed that he was named in a lawsuit filed on March 9 against Peter Nygard and his lawyer Keod Smith by four Save The Bays (STB) directors - Joseph Darville, Romauld Ferreira, Fred Smith and billionaire Louis Bacon - and Reverend CB Moss.
Last week Monday, Dr Minnis told The Tribune that he asked Mr. Pintard to resign because the party doesn’t “need any deflection” and has to “concentrate on moving the PLP.”
“An article was published in the tabloid paper we thought was damaging to the leader and Mr. Pintard,” Mr. Rolle told The Tribune. “It talked about monies collected as in donations to the party being the reason for this alleged conflict.
“The fact is the statement was not true and we thought it was important to state category that it is not true. There is absolutely no truth to it.”
Earlier, the party released a statement to address the matter saying the allegations were a part of a smear campaign and an invasion of privacy against Mr. Pintard.
An earlier statement from the FNM read: “Mr. Michael Pintard, former chairman of the Free National Movement recently resigned as chairman and senator following a vicious assault by the PLP on his reputation and that of the FNM party after videos surfaced in which Peter Nygard asserted that he contributed millions of dollars to the governing PLP party’s last election campaign (in) 2012 with expectation of certain promises being fulfilled.
“By resigning, Mr. Pintard followed the honourable path so as to ensure that the baseless allegations made against him by the PLP and others would not be a source of distraction for our FNM party as we seek to replace the PLP and create a new and better Bahamas. We fully expect that the vicious accusations against Mr. Pintard will in time be shown to be completely false and politically motivated.”
The statement continued: “Despite having done the honourable thing and resign so as to address the rumours and innuendos in the public domain, our former chairman continues to be the object of a relentless smear campaign, attacks and invasion of his privacy.
“Among the wide range of lies and false innuendos directed at Mr. Pintard has been the outright lie about the FNM being in conflict with Mr. Pintard concerning financial matters. This is not so and there is absolutely no truth to this suggestion.”
The lawsuit filed by STB alleges that Mr. Nygard engaged in a murder-for-hire scheme with criminals Livingston “Toggie” Bullard and Wisler “Bobo” Davilma, and paid them to stage several hate rallies and commit such criminal acts as arson and harassment. It was revealed that the criminals were tracked down with the help of Mr. Pintard.
After the story broke, audio recordings were circulated on social media of Mr. Pintard negotiating payment for the two criminals for their testimony. Mr. Nygard has since denied the claims and filed court documents claiming Mr. Pintard and Mr. Bacon conspired to implicate him in an alleged murder plot.
According to sworn statements from Bullard and Davilma, filed on behalf of Mr. Nygard, the two men alleged they were paid for false testimony against the fashion mogul. The pair further alleged that Mr. Pintard negotiated the payoff. STB has since filed a second affidavit alleging that Bullard and Davilma were paid by Mr. Nygard to give “false evidence” to his attorneys in Canada last year.
The two men also claimed, in the latest court filing, that they were “coached” to make allegations about Mr. Pintard and Save the Bays.
By KHRISNA VIRGIL
Tribune Staff Reporter
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