Mac denies blowing Ritz duty
(CNS): McKeeva Bush has denied missing out on an opportunity to collect on the $6 million still owed to the public purse in relation to the development of the Ritz Carlton-Cayman and has accused the new owners of trying to threaten the government. The premier told members of the Legislative Assembly that Five Mile Capital (RC Cayman’s parent company) had offered to pay the $6 million but there were many strings attached which could have cost government millions of dollars. He also raised questions about the way the hotel was sold, suggesting it was significantly undervalued and that the land registry was looking into that in connection with the stamp duty value.
During his presentation to close the debate on the amendment to the Public Management and Finance Law to incorporate the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility agreement, the premier said that he did not miss the chance to collect the outstanding duty, which he said the new owners were responsible for. Bush stated that the firm knew about the outstanding duty when they bought the loan and they had tried to negotiate paying government’s $6 million based on a long list of concession but the price was far too high.
Last week the new owners released a press statement in which they said they had made an offer to government about the duty but it was contingent on entering into an agreement with the CIG before the auction last month and they had not heard from government before that sale. As a result, the offer was withdrawn but the owners said they would be paying the full stamp duty amount on the $177 million sale.
Bush stated in the LA Wednesday that the “wish list” put forward by the new owners as a negotiation over the duty had included reductions in the work permit fees, stamp duty on the sale and future sales, as well as new duty concessions, the rights to make their own desalinated water on site, the right to buy the freehold and expedited changes in licence, among other things.
The premier said that because he did not grant their wish list the owners had implied that the opportunity to collect on the $6 million was lost, which was simply not the case.
“The government does not give into threats,” he added. Bush insisted that the Cayman government wanted to be a good partner with the new owners as the Ritz Carlton was an important part of the tourism product, but he had to act in the best interests of the country and the demand for concessions was far too great. “Government has a right to be paid what is properly due and I will see it is done,” he told the House.
Bush stated that while he was not going to interfere with the legal arguments between the former owner Mike Ryan and the new companies, from the beginning government had been keen to be a supportive partner in how the issues surrounding the Ritz were resolved.
The premier said that after Five Mile purchased the debt, he met with them and Ryan when they discussed how to restructure the loan without any adverse publicity.
“I said then duties needed to be paid and the new owners had to play by the rules,” Bush added. However, he said that the new owners began to pursue an aggressive strategy of driving out Ryan to take control of the hotel. He said he travelled to Miami with backbench MLA Cline Glidden for meetings and discussed the duty and possible concessions, which he was willing to hear, but he said he had reminded them about the obligations that had to be met and that government could not get caught in middle of the legal situation at the Ritz.
“There were many strings attached to the offer to pay the $6 million,” Bush said, implying that to have granted their wishes could have totalled as much as a $70 million loss to the public purse. “We want to be good partners but both sides must do give and take.”
Bush said that the hotel was also worth far more than the owners paid. “We know and they know the real value of the Ritz-Carlton is far more than US$177 million.” The premier stated that it was recently valued at over $468 million and government’s Lands and Survey Department had estimated its value was as much as a half billion dollars. “I have asked the land registry to look into the sale and make sure they followed all the rules,” he added.
Having chosen to buy the loan on the hotel with an understanding of their obligations, the new owners were the ones that had chosen to drag the situation into the papers, Bush said. He accused the opposition of trying to help Richard Finlay, the attorney from Conyers Dill & Pearman representing them, to threaten government as Finlay was a former law partner of the leader of the opposition.
“If we follow the true facts behind the slurs and accusations and hypocrisy,” he said, as he took aim at the opposition leader, who had raised the issue about the Ritz duty in the LA last week. He accused Alden McLaughlin of trying to help his ‘”lawyer friend” .
“Everyone knows I supported Mike Ryan with the development of Ritz,” he said. But he denied that he had caused the loss of the six million dollars. “They are wrong and I will assess and demand that appropriate stamp duty is paid and deferred duty as well before their licenses and permits are given,” Bush told the members of the LA.
“The government has reached out a helping hand to the new group and will continue to do so but their cohorts should explain why they gave away the windfall,” Bush said as he pointed the finger at the PPM for the debt now being unsecured. The premier said he had the papers to prove that it was the PPM’s fault because the debt had been secured by the property but the opposition took it away.
McLaughlin denied the various attacks and pressed the speaker to make the premier withdraw the allegations that he was either supporting or assisting the new owners or that the PPM administration had changed the status of Ryan’s duty debt. McLaughlin pointed out he had been a partner of Finlay more than twelve years ago before he was elected as an MLA.
The opposition leader said the premier had to stop making unfounded allegations and explain why he let Mike Ryan “get away with the $6 million” and to explain his relationship with the former owner.
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Category: Politics
I understand that not all the assets of these companies were subject to security and sold. Why isn't Mac going after the remaining assets? Is it because his friend Ryan is still the shareholder?
Well, was the debt secured or unsecured? If it was unsecured, CIG can forget it. Unsecured means no repayment after a forced sale. This is almost comical. What the hotel sold for was not enough to pay any unsecured debts. The whole thing is a political football in that we have another platform for the two political parties to argue over, all the while our MLA's sling mud at one another and yet do nothing to improve the fiscal position of our country. Shame on both parties.
Unsecured.
It was also not sufficient to pay the secured debt, let alone the unsecured debts.
“Everyone knows I supported Mike Ryan with the development of Ritz,” he said. But he denied that he had caused the loss of the six million dollars. “They are wrong and I will assess and demand that appropriate stamp duty is paid and deferred duty as well before their licenses and permits are given,” Bush told the members of the LA.
Anti-Corruption Law 2008, Section 17(1): A public officer or a member of the Legislative Assembly who does or directs to be done, in abuse of his office, any arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of another commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term of three years.
Keke you have finally Made history as the worst & uneducated leader that have ever ran these islands!
Caymanian
Mac denies blowing the Ritz duty…while huffing and puffing threatening to blow you down!
Sounds to me that the only $6M to be had will be by the lawyers now. Government will go out and hire the most expensive lawyers with public money, the owner of the Ritz will so the same, government will lose the case and the people will be poorer.
Is it just me or is Mac starting to look like Col. Sanders a little bit more each day??
Not as much as Ezzard looks like Peter Griffiths.
Oops, sorry to Peter Griffiths, I meant Peter Griffin!
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mac denies blowing the Ritz duty…
And Jubba denies blowing the sailor while the warship was in port…
The facts are that the PPM government had Mike Ryan paying installments on the deferred duty. The minute the UDP took back power in 2009, Ryan stopped paying. Whose fault is it again – McKeeva Bush's andMcKeeva Bush's alone.
Mr Bush Please dont stop the Carnival.I am having way too much fun reading all this wonderful stuff.The beat goes on but to a different drummer.His name is SOON DONE and the Independents will WIN ONE SOON.
In the game of "real estate consultancy" the developers win, the "consultants" win, and the public gets screwed every time.
What did the goats have to say about it?
Mckeeva the Blow-hard, working his air time.
"…suggesting it was significantly undervalued…"
The true value of a property is defined when a buyer and seller shake hands on the selling/buying price.
The low value reflects the current market that has be severely compromised, in great part, by the economic and political instability of the Cayman Islands. The last three and a half years have been on McKeeva's watch. He must take the credit for this (never the blame).
Mac thinks he is now a valuation expert! Of course he wants a higher value, he does not want his condo to be devalued!
I don't know about the Cayman Islands but where I come from customs duty is like any other tax – you either pay it or you go to jail. The liability is not transferable and it for sure doesn't automatically get conveniently forgotten if the person(s) or the company liable goes bust. In fact the tax people are always preferential creditors and will often topple a business just to make sure they get paid off.
So the relevant question must be 'who was the person responsible when the duty was incurred and why are they not being pursued?' Whoever it was (and XXX rumours of someone getting a grace and favour apartment might figure in this) they still owe that money.
Come on all you lawyers out there – do a pro bono on this and tell us the true legal position.
It was a liability incurred by Michael Ryan although he says it belonged to one of his now insolvent companies. Under Cayman law debts to govt. come second after the liabilities due to secured creditors but before unsecured creditors.
Bush showed no interest in pursuing this debt for 3 years although Ryan stopped his quarterly payments as soon as Bush got into power in 2009.
Many thanks for clarifying that. I think your last sentence explains everything.
Only one person knows di TRUE POSITION!…you will need to go to Tony’s Toy’s for it!
The Premier continues to demonstrate his and his government's total disfunctionality.
You can tell when he's under real threat – ranting and truckloads of accusation hurled out at all and sundry.
Let this be a lesson to anyone interested in developing property or establishing an enterprise in the Cayman Islands.
This is obviously trying to bluff his way out of political embarrassment and change the subject about why he did not demand that Ryan pay Ryan's debt from the time the UDP came to power in 2009. All of a sudden he is aware that there is a debt must be paid, only not by his buddy Ryan who owes it.
i'm sorry but Mckeeva should have to pay every red cent that is owed to the Government that he made Michael Ryan got away.
There is not, in any reasonable realm of sanity, the slightest shadow of doubt which resides in a summer"s solstice day on the very equator itself one single ioata of a righteous reason for you to even contemplate the reason to think that an apology is prudent when one makes a statement of such truthful gravity as you have almost perfectly and succintly performed. Well done and an apology is neiither necessary nor granted. Who the cap fit, let them wear it. May justice be done. Tear down the wall. God Bless the Cayman Islands.
Mac denies blowing Ritz
and, apparently, the other way round. No strange bedfellows around here. Yeah, right.
This man is no leader. He doesn't have the ability to take responsibility for any of his bad judgements or to tell the truth. Just do the honorable thing and resign. We can do better then this even if its another person from the"United Dumb People" party. God help us.
Never mind the duty, when do I get back the keys to the free condo that I used to have there?
Just one? I'm pretty sure there were two. Did you sell one already?
Oh, well if it's not his fault then everything's fine.
UK, a little help over here please…
Poor old Mac, didn't get his "real estate commission" this time.
What makes you think that there was no "real estate consultancy" done this time?
Because he would be saying what a wonderful deal it was in that case. He would not be trying to discredit it.
I wouldn't be to sure about THAT one.
Bad minds, each and every one of you. This man of pure feet and clean heart, or is it clean brain and pure heart – never mind – this God-fearing, uhum, Christian, uhum, man who is always looking for opportunities to uhum… Never mind – bad minds you all!!! Jus sayin!
Remember we are all donkey-faced too.
If it was worth what Bush says, how come no one wanted to bid higher? Answer—it was not worth more. The seller would have been thrilled if someone offered $468 million. The higher "appraisals" mean nothing, assuming that they even exist, they are just agent talk. BTW the seller has indicated that the fair value was already agreed by Lands & Survey. If L&S ups the number by 100%, I'm sure they will get their day in court to try and back it up (and explain why they agreed to a lower figure beforehand and then arbitrarily raised the price after the fact.)
A good idea to go to Lands and Survey first as they no longer assess stamp duty on what you pay for the property but their own assessment of market value which has not fallen from the peak years.
mckeeva allowed them to get away and increased the prices on us UDP need to GO.
He’s a peach!
The solution is a Hon. M Bush has stated, if the don't pay they can't play. Revoke the hotel and liquor licences until such time that they pony up. That should make them quickstep.
Yeah, that's how Chavez would do it!
Abusing power to require payment of money not properly due from the other party. Sounds familiar.
One problem: there is this funny thing they call the rule of law. The govt. would be in court so fast it would make McKeeva’s head spin. Of course he is used to wasting govt.’s money in avoidable law suits.
It's hard to believe the Premier's statements these days. I remember his allegation about Arden and that he was going to the Anti Corruption police about it. He did and they came back and said Arden's "Hands were clean and his heart was pure." I remember him saying Cohen deal was good, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. So based on all that he has said over the last three years, I've learned not to trust anything he says. I wish the Constitution allowed the people to remove politicians by way of a people initiated referendum.
where to start????
the man is a complete and utter dillusional idiot……. he has no idea what he is talking about…..
cayman..you deserve what you get…you voted him in!
With respect, you are completely wrong, he is far from dillusional and certanily not an idiot. His longevity in politics is testimony to him being the cleverest, most tactical, guileful and interesting politician this country has ever produced. Hate him or not, he is a living legend who has grabbed the reins of power and dictates the course of events, the economy and the country freely, at his discretion. Apart from the FCO, this Premier has no effective opposition or contenders to worry about. For him, in the twilight of his political career, its a game and he is damn good at it.
So, you can write all the negative words you want to about him but, in truth, you and I know that he couldnt give a s**t what you, I or anybody else thinks about him. With age, his skin has grown thicker than Rhino hide and his heart is as pure as those hearts all around him.
Is he good or is he bad? He's a Politician.
And those that try to stand in his shoes after he departs will swear to us that they are entering politics to serve you, I and their beloved country. Many will believe them because they want change. But, in time the self interests of these new Politicians and the demands of their friends, supporters and business associates will increasingly be served at the expense of you and I. Is that the way we want it? No, of course not but, that's the way it is.
He is as legendary as Al Capone. You seem to glorify him but he is certainly not good for the Cayman Islands. Lets take a chance with someone else as this one has had too many opportunities to do the right thing and has failed on all accounts.
A living legend? maybe in West Bay where you live. He is the most despised politician in the history of the Cayman Islands, when he is gone all that will be remembered is the damage he has done that could take years to fix. But he will be forgotten.
He doesnt care because he is too ignorant to do so and he has his eyes on some prizes thats all. he did not grab anything, he bought it. And to argue my own point, if he doesnt care is that why he rants like a lunatic on TV when his failures are spoken aloud?
The rest after that crap is right on but a living legend? that makes me want to puke.
OK Shaggy, it wasnt you!
We always knew it couldnt be your fault, after all, nothing ever is! Just because, like Shaggy in his song where he is caught in flagrante, and he still claims it wasnt me,and you too have your fingerprints all over it, we dont suspect you for one moment! Yes, it was just a coincidence that he stopped paying the instalments when you came back into power, just coincidence that your ministry changed the law in relation to building height for his advantage, just because your ministry gave him the duty concession, we dont blame you, why would we? Of course others have pointed out that your family owned real estate company benefitted from sales of the same properties, but they are just trying to smear your reputation which is now as unblemished as it ever was!
"Mac denies" SHOCKER!!!!!!!
He and his government do not give into threats.
Mr. Simmons from the UK did. He told Bush if you dont call the Chinese and cancel and sign the FFC that day, a warship would be here by 11am the next day with a British delegation my 2pm to thake the government over. And thats a fact.
This man can talk CROC!
Bet he is upset that he is Premier, and he was not retained as expert consulant on this Real Estate deal.
If he was , I bet the question about the sale price and stamp duty would not be headlines today.
Exactly.