NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The principal behind a proposed $60 million development for Cat Island said that he is “not backing out” of the project, telling Eyewitness News that the development could commence in August if the necessary approvals are secured.
Roger Sahota, revealed that he has reached a settlement with US federal regulators over charges stemming from a multi-million dollar investment fraud.
Sahota said: “We had an issue with the SEC. We sold some assets to this company called Heartland. They had raised a bunch of money and we didn’t know that. They came and bought some assets, oil and gas from us in Texas. We weren’t aware of the stuff they were doing while raising the money to buy the assets. We were in the oil and gas business since 2003 and they met us in 2019. We weren’t a part of what they were doing. I settled with the SEC and that’s going to end right there. That project will be developed. We’re not backing out of that project.”
Tourism, Aviation and Investments Minister Chester Cooper recently confirmed to Eyewitness News that the Davis administration is “reviewing the files” of the Sahota family’s Almost Paradise Development, in light of the SEC charges. According to Cooper, the development was approved by the former administration in 2020. The development is due to have a virtual public hearing on its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) next Tuesday.
Last December, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced charges against Heartland Group Ventures and seven other Heartland-affiliated entities, including Heartland Drilling over a scheme in which $122 million was raised from 700 investors supposedly for work on existing and drilling new oil wells. James Ikey, John Muratore, Thomas Brad Pearsey, Rustin Brunson, and Manjit Singh (aka Roger) Sahota were all named in the complaint.
According to the EIA conducted by Bahamas-based Waypoint Consulting, the proposed Sahota development is situated on approximately 50 acres in the vicinity of Greenwood, Cat Island.
“The mixed-use development features a 20-room boutique hotel, 18 villas, four hilltop villas, one private residence, and amenity/recreational facilities to be constructed over three phases,” the study read.
Sahota said: “I think if we get the approvals by July then the project could start in August of this year. We have a hotel and some bungalows. We also have some condos and a restaurant, bars, a wedding venue, a solar farm, a vegetable farm to grow our own food and we will have some water sports and scuba diving . We are trying to keep it an eco-friendly green project.”
