Archive for September 22nd, 2010
Drivers warned over harbour front road works
(CNS): The Cayman Water Authority said that Phase 2 of the South Church Street upgrade project on the George Town harbour front is scheduled to continue on Thursday, 23 September 23 from 9:00AM until 4:00PM. The WA said warned the motoring public of the works which will take place between Ugland House and Melmac Avenue. Access from Ugland House to Melmac Ave will be reduced to one lane. All motorists travelling in the South Church Street area are urged to take note of the road works and use caution while motoring there. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)
CAL resumes Washington & Chicago direct flights
(CNS): Cayman Airways Limited (CAL) has announced that it will be resuming nonstop flights to Washington, DC and Chicago this winter. Chicago flights start again on 21 November while flights to the US capital start on 18 December until April 2011. The National flag carrier said the seasonal gateways are operating alongside the airline’s year-round non-stop service between Grand Cayman and New York (JFK International Airport).Senior Vice President of Commercial Affairs and CFO for Cayman Airways, Paul Tibbetts said not only were these gateways lucrative for Cayman tourism they also offer excellent vacation experiences for Cayman residents.
“Both Chicago and DC offer a plethora of activities for the whole family, including museums, planetariums, zoo’s, art galleries, and festivals just to name a few. We hope everyone takes advantage of this great travel opportunity available through the national flag carrier,” he said.
Libraries push membership and encourage reading
(CNS): The Cayman Islands public library services are promote reading to mark International Literacy Month this September. As well as offering tips to parents on how to get kids reading the local libraries are running a membership with sign up campaign. In tough economic times, parents find it hard to make sure their children have everything they need for school but library cards are free. Libraries support literacy education by providing teaching resources, space for tutoring, information and referral services, as well as free access to music, DVDs, the Internet, books and much more. Library cards aren’t just for kids a recent report found the importance of libraries has grown in 2010 in face of the global economic crisis as people looked for sources of cost-effective help.
OFCs fan to host seminar at UCCI
(CNS): Professor Walid Hejazi, from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, will be conducting an advanced level financial seminar at the UCCI next month. The seminar, designed for professionals in all sectors of the financial services industry, including those serving in related government agencies, will be offered over a four-day period, beginning 4 October. Professor Hejazi who is an international expert in the areas of macroeconomics and the global economy will explore the role of international financial centres such as the Cayman Islands in a global community.
On the other hand, he noted that the use of these jurisdictions to hide money that "should" be taxed in a home jurisdiction is “out of the scope” of the above comment. He anticipated that the “should” would serve for interesting discussion during the seminar.
Popes bankers under investigation
(FT.Com): Italy’s finance police have seized €23m held by the Vatican in an Italian bank while the pope’s top two bankers have been placed under investigation for suspected money laundering. Police confirmed reports that they had confiscated the funds held by the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) – the Vatican’s bank – in an account at Credito Artigiano, an Italian bank, following suspicions raised by the Bank of Italy over two attempted transfers. Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, formerly Bank Santander’s head of operations in Italy and a professor of ethical finance, was appointed head of IOR a year ago.
According to sources close to the Vatican, one of his main mandates was to bring the bank in line with international norms and regulations on tax havens and money laundering.
The second official being investigated is Paolo Cipriani, the bank’s director-general. The Vatican expressed its full confidence in Mr Gotti Tedeschi. In a statement it expressed surprise at the investigation and said it remained committed to financial transparency.
One man arrested for nightclub murder
(CNS): More than a year after the shooting, police have announced that a 24-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the death of Carlo Webster. The 24-year-old man, who is from the West Bay area, was arrested earlier this morning (Wednesday 22 September) on suspicion of murder, police revealed. Webster was gunned down in the Next Level Nightclub, on the West Bay Road, on 10 September in a shooting which police have said they believed was connected with a tit for tat escalation of gang violence throughout 2009. Webster was shot in the head in front of over one hundred people who were in the club that night. Police have not named the man and have not indicated if he was already in custody or not. However, a spokesperson said that enquiries into the shooting continue.
On the night of the incident the 911 Emergency Communications Centre received a call froma member of the public reporting that a shooting had occurred inside Next Level. Police responded to the scene and found a man in his thirties inside the club who had received fatal gunshot wound. Another man was then found at the rear of the club suffering from a gun shot wound to his abdomen.
Law enforcement raid nets immigration offenders
(CNS): Two Jamaicans and one Caymanian were arrested during a joint RCIPS and immigration operation on Monday night which involved some twenty law enforcement officers who were carrying out checks in the Eastern Avenue area of George Town. The two Jamaican nationals were arrested on suspicion of having landed illegally and the Caymanian for obstruction of the officers all three remain in custody pending further investigations. Meanwhile, another man who is a permanent resident with the right to work was arrested for not having an employment rights certificate.
Governments turn up heat on tax cheats in Med
(FT.com): Panic swept through Italy’s superyacht owners like wildfire last May, when finance police pounced offshore and seized the 63m Force Blue from Formula One tycoon Flavio Briatore, evicting his ex-model wife and infant son, amid accusations of tax fraud. Tax police said Briatore was suspected of evading €4m ($5m) in unpaid VAT on the boat and tax of €800,000 on fuel. Legal advisers around the world promptly told their clients – some 90 per cent of whom, like Briatore, had their yachts under the Cayman Islands flag – to reconsider before entering Italian waters. In both Italy and Greece, the Mediterranean yachting idyll is coming under threat, as cash-strapped governments turn up the heat on tax evaders.
Audit office defers FOI
(CNS): The Auditor General’s Office remains determined to keep a lid on the number of public bodies that have not conformed with the Public Management and Finance Law this year, and has refused a CNS freedom of information request regarding the submission of annual accounts. Despite the fact that additional public funds were allocated to help financial officers catch up with delinquent government accounts so they could submit the 2009/10 financial year on time, the audit office says it is not prepared to reveal whether that extra expenditure of public money has improved the situation. Although it is an independent office, free to make its own decisions about disclosure and the only place collating information about government financial compliance, the auditor general is giving nothing away.
Local customs officer’s drug running connection
(CNS): Unconfirmed reports that three Caymanian men have been arrested in the UK on charges of importing drugs may also include a local customs officer. Chief Customs Officer Carlon Powery (left) told News 27 yesterday that he was aware of an alleged offence regarding a flight that had left the Cayman Islands for the UK but was not prepared to comment on the connection with one of his officers. Powery said he did not want to withhold any information from the public but the investigation was in the preliminary stage. CNS understands that the men involved were on a British Airways flight and were arrested on arrival in London with a significant amount of cocaine and may have been assisted by an official at Owen Roberts International.