NASSAU, BAHAMAS — ArawakX has strongly criticized the Securities Commission’s top executive for what it has deemed an “ill-advised and prejudicial conversation” with the Bank of the Bahamas (BOB) regarding their alleged negotiations on a settlement with the BISX-listed lender, asserting that it had submitted a settlement proposal at the bank’s request.
In an affidavit dated November 8th, D’Arcy Rahming Jr, the embattled crowdfunding platform’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), responded to affidavits filed by Securities Commission Executive Director Christina Rolle in October. In his affidavit, Rahming Jr suggested that Rolle’s discussions with the bank had negatively impacted settlement negotiations.
BOB had frozen access to the crowdfunding platform’s accounts on October 31, 2022, due to uncertainties about whether Rahming Jr and his father, D’Arcy Rahming Sr, or James Campbell, a major investor, were the rightful control persons.
Rahming Jr stated in his affidavit: “The respondent’s litigation with BOB is a serious matter and had the applicant desired further confirmation of the status of negotiations between the parties, it ought to have approached the respondent for further evidence of the same. To approach BOB in the manner that the applicant has chosen to do so, despite its awareness of the significance of that litigation and its potential consequences for the respondent, was unreasonable, unlawful, oppressive, capricious, and beyond the applicant’s powers under the Act.”
ArawakX believes it stands to receive significant damages from the Bank of The Bahamas, a claim contested by the BISX-listed bank, which has stated that the two sides have not engaged in any settlement talks. Neil Strachan, the commercial bank’s Managing Director, informed Christina Rolle, the Securities Commission’s Executive Director, in an email dated October 25, 2023, that no settlement had been reached with the embattled crowdfunding platform because their previous offer had been “rejected.”
Rahming Jr, however, refuted Mr.Strachan’s assertions as “false.”
“While Mr Strachan, in his email of the 25th day of October 2023, suggests that ‘an offer for settlement was sent to our attorneys, however, the offer was rejected,’ he fails to state that the said offer was solicited by BOB,” he said.
According to Rahming Jr, an email from the bank’s attorney not only indicated that BOB actively sought a without-prejudice settlement, but the bank’s counsel also mentioned that if ArawakX did not provide a proposal, BOB had instructed her to send one.
“It is therefore clear that the parties were engaged in settlement discussions, with BOB having received a proposal, which they have yet to submit, and the respondent having submitted a proposal at BOB’s request. BOB, quite cynically, seems determined to present a false and misleading narrative to the applicant, fully aware that it would be presented to the Court herein by the applicant. This was done with the expectation that if the applicant succeeds in its application, BOB may not have to face further serious and credible challenges on behalf of the respondent in the said action.”
Rahming Jr contended that had Rolle not intervened, BOB would have provided its own proposal.
A September 15th letter sent to Michelle Deveaux, BOB’s attorney by ArawakX’s attorney Khalil Parker noted that ArawakX had suffered a seven-month loss of earnings, reflecting $560,158,70 in subscriptions and other income, and $4,181,553.60 in success fees.
“The claimant also seeks $ 420,000 with respect to the aggravated nature of the injuries caused in the circumstances. The claimant is prepared at present to accept $32,977,026.00, and $824,425.65 (plus VAT) with respect to its costs of and occasioned by this matter, in full and final settlement,” the letter noted.
The Securities Commission is pursuing the winding up of ArawakX based on an alleged $2.4 million solvency deficiency in addition to “governance irregularities, regulatory breaches, and possible criminal infractions.”
