The Big Story

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Police are searching for a 49-year-old Acklins woman and a 63-year-old Boston man who went missing this week in separate incidents. The woman, Berthmae Williams, was last seen collecting cascarilla bark in bushes near her home in the settlement of Delectable Bay, Acklins. According to police, Williams was reported missing by her family sometime around 6.15pm on...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamas Department of Correctional Services acting Commissioner of Corrections Doan Cleare has confirmed that embattled former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is currently in the sick bay of the maximum security block with five other men. Cleare told Eyewitness News that the 30-year-old disgraced billionaire seemed to be in good spirits when he spoke with him last night....

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was yesterday remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services as he fights extradition to the United States. Citing his access to "substantial finances", Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt said she did not believe there was any bail condition she could impose that would satisfy "he would not and...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried with orchestrating a scheme to defraud investors of billions of dollars which he diverted to his Alameda Research crypto hedge fund for his own personal benefit and to help grow his crypto empire. The regulator claims that since at least May 2019, FTX...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — FTX CEO John Ray III in a congressional hearing into the company’s collapse yesterday slammed The Bahamas’ company liquidation  process as lacking transparency, claiming that the ‘pushback’ being received from the Bahamian government and regulators was ‘extraordinary’ and ‘irregular.’  Ray was addressing a House Financial Services Committee hearing into the collapse of the crypto exchange. He said that...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Securities Commission has once again taken issue with statements by new FTX CEO John Ray III, stating that he appears intent only on making headlines and advancing "questionable agendas". The regulator accused Ray of referring to redacted email correspondence between former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and Bahamian officials in a bid to cast aspersions on local...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Public Service Commission is in the process of clearing through the extensive backlog which has led to delays in many sectors of government. Minister of State for the Public Service Pia Glover-Rolle said that workers can expect some of their letters within the next month. Glover-Rolle added they are currently processing files in a number of...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, will spend the holidays in prison as he fights extradition to the United States. Citing his access to "substantial finances", Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt said she did not believe there was any bail condition she could impose that would satisfy "he would not and could not abscond". Bankman-Fried...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is expected to appear before a magistrate today after police arrested him over the alleged breach of various financial offenses related to the collapse of the crypto exchange. In a statement, Attorney General Ryan Pinder confirmed the arrest followed the receipt of a formal request from the United States that it...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Opposition leader Michael Pintard yesterday in Parliament dismissed suggestions that the government and Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) did not have the $40 million needed to finance fuel hedge trades, arguing that there was “no cost” associated with the execution of those trades. While making his contribution to the Investment Funds Bill 2022, Pintard slammed the Davis...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A family in Eleuthera is mourning the loss of their second family member this year who died as a result of a traffic incident. Hatchet Bay resident Jamal McNair, 30, reportedly fell off of the back of a truck as it overtook another vehicle and died on impact. This year the Police Traffic Department has recorded 53...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas Air Navigation Services Authority (BANSA) is collecting three million dollars a month in overflight fees, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism and Aviation Chester Cooper. Cooper said the airspace agreement is proceeding "reasonably well" as the country manages a sizeable portion of its sovereign airspace. "We established a flight information region with...

Cash payments for bus fares to be phased out NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Unified Public Transportation Company (UPTC) and Bahamian digital identity and fintech provider, Bluestone Labs, have partnered on a six-year multi-deal to launch a unified public bus system in New Providence. The UPTC "Jitney Pass” digital bus system will reportedly provide access to 220 busses and over 40...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper said yesterday that the National Investment Funds Bill 2022 has the capacity to over time ease the pressure on the country’s sovereign debt and improve this nation’s sovereign credit rating, touting the legislation as “necessary and revolutionary.” Cooper, the Tourism, Aviation, and Investments Minister noted that the legislation provides the enabling framework for...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Central Bank of The Bahamas yesterday revealed that it has approved just over $200 million in transactions since it introduced a temporary waiver of the five percent investment currency market (ICM) premium for purchases of Bahamas Government US Dollars bonds. The regulator yesterday announced that applications for the waiver will cease to be accepted after December 31....

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The joint provisional liquidators for FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, have filed an emergency motion in a Delaware bankruptcy court in a bid to gain access to company records. In court documents filed last Friday, the liquidators said that they urgently require access to certain electronic records related to FTX Digital’s property and financial affairs so...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has agreed to testify at a special hearing before the US House committee on financial services tomorrow, December 13. In a series of tweets on Friday, Bankman-Fried explained there was a limit on what he would be able to divulge because he still did not have access to much of his...

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) president Robert Sands has described the cost of doing business as “one of the most  daunting obstacles" for the tourism industry despite the post-COVID rebound. Sands made the remarks during as he addressed the BHTA’s annual general meeting on Friday. “Many of us, not all, are now; approaching, even surpassing, pre-covid...