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Lady Pindling's tax bill paid in full

As of Sunday, June 22, 2014

By TANEKA THOMPSON

Tribune News Editor

THE Ministry of Finance has received full payment for the more than $300,000 real property tax bill on the home of Dame Marguerite Pindling after it was revealed that she had not paid taxes on the home for 14 years, The Tribune understands.

According to a well-placed source, the Ministry of Finance received a cheque for the bill between Thursday and Friday.

Last Thursday, The Tribune revealed that Dame Marguerite had outstanding real property taxes amounting to $306,831.73 on her home in western New Providence. Dame Marguerite is the widow of the first Bahamian Prime Minister, Sir Lynden Pindling who died on August 26, 2000, of prostate cancer. The documents show that the arrears began in 2000.

Revelations over her outstanding tax debt drew scathing criticisms of the media from PLP politicians, who defended Dame Marguerite as the retired wife of the first prime minister of the Bahamas.

However, yesterday former PLP Cabinet minister George Smith told The Tribune he saw nothing wrong with the media’s reporting of Dame Marguerite’s tax debt.

“I don’t think anybody in the Bahamas is above criticism,” Mr Smith said. “I don’t think the Queen is above criticism, I don’t think the pope is above criticism. People have a right, within the realm of good taste, to express their views. The press has got to exercise judgment about whether the way it is done is distasteful (but) it’s a democracy.

“You cannot deny people the right to express their view because you might not like it. The prime minister is the victim of a lot of criticism, some people think it’s fair, I think it’s unfair many times. But that comes with the territory that comes with the office. If you want to be in public life and public office and you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen.”

However, Mr Smith expressed fondness for Dame Marguerite adding that once the matter is resolved it should not impact the prime minister’s consideration to appoint her as successor to Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes. Sir Arthur will demit office next month. Dame Marguerite is deputy governor general and is rumoured to the be front-runner to replace Sir Arthur.

“I would only wish to say that Sir Lynden is my leader and I think he has made great contributions to this nation as the father of the nation and I have tremendous personal fondness of his widow and his family,” Mr Smith said. “It saddens me that any matter would come forward that would cause her anxiety. I hope the matter would be cleared up and if it is the prime minister’s desire to recommend her to Her Majesty I would wish her well. She is an outstanding Bahamian woman.”

Mr Smith said he hoped the controversy surrounding Dame Marguerite would die down quickly so the nation could focus on more pressing issues like poverty and economic recovery.

In an interview with The Tribune on Thursday, Prime Minister Perry Christie said he was unaware of the outstanding debt, adding that what he saw as a politically-motivated leak of her tax information was “impeccably” timed.

Mr Christie said he would first have to review the matter before it could be determined whether the revelation will affect his consideration of her possible appointment to the post of governor general.

He confirmed that there was “no question” that Sir Lynden’s widow would be up for consideration.

Documents obtained by The Tribune show that in the absence of payments over the past 14 years, interest charges on Dame Marguerite’s outstanding taxes swelled annually from $431.70 after the first year of non-payment to $16,259.25 as of June 18.

According to the documents, as of June 18 the annual real property tax on the home was $14,138.50 with an interest fee of $16,259.25 amounting to a total payment of $30,397.75.

Fourteen years ago, the real property tax on the home was $8,634.

Dame Marguerite receives Sir Lynden’s pension payments – an annual disbursement of $86,000 - in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Pension Act.

On Friday her son Obafemi “Obi” Pindling refused to say if any payment was made on the tax debt since The Tribune’s revelations.

“The same way the papers found out about the account, they can go back to those same people and find out,” he told The Tribune.

Comments

242orgetslu 9 years, 10 months ago

Fuck dis bullshit, because the news come she just remember to pay smt......cant fool me! I wish someone would get rid of every last politician. What dis old ass woman supposed to do for the country ah? Dese bunch of old ass fuck shots gat the country like dis na an all dey doing is appointing more old fucks! What happen to young people? AH? dis woman bout 1000 years old, she ga be dead b4 ya kno it, what has she ever done for the Bahamas for her to be anything other than a regular ass Bahamian woman. SMT!

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sheeprunner12 9 years, 10 months ago

If this is what it takes to get our political elite (all parties) to be accountable to the citizens then so be it. Good work Tribune........ team up with the Punch and NG and rat out ALL of the tax evaders and delinquents who hold public office in this country....... who the cap fits, wear it.

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mrkeepinthefaith 9 years, 10 months ago

wow all of a sudden she could pay the bill because she want the governor general post other than that she would not have payed,we need to check how much other plp mps owe bill,thats proably why mr christie gave those old timers their post to rob the country,ant they owe,thats why he quick to implement vat,before his mps bills come out,thats why the treasury broke,check the bills for the minister of national security,BAHAmian people wake up,

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Publius 9 years, 10 months ago

If it is now paid off in a one day that means it always could have been paid from the start, but as many of us know, they believe the laws of the land do not apply to them and that they are entitled to live off the backs of Bahamians until they become plant food (buried).

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Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 10 months ago

Even if she and her family have been shamed into paying her long past due tax bills, it does not take away from the fact that she is a tax dodger who has brought much shame on the Bahamian people. We as a country have over the years graciously bestowed so much on Mrs Ping (notwithstanding the findings of the Commission of Inquiry regarding the corrupt activities of her late husband) and for that she has spit in the eye of the much less well off common Bahamian people. Think of all the poor children in this country who lack decent medical care, lack school supplies, often go to bed at night hungry, and so on, just because the likes of her and the Ishmael Lightbournes in our country feel they do not have to pay their taxes out of a sense of entitlement whereby they believe they are above the law. All the while, she resides like a queen in her lakeside mansion on an eleven acre estate in an upscale Cable Beach neighborhood, no doubt looking down on all of us hard working Bahamians as peasants with complete disregard for the horrible financial hardships most of us must endure day in and day out. AND TO THINK THIS WOMAN MAY EVEN STILL HAVE THE GALL TO WANT TO BE OUR NEXT GG! HAS SHE NO SHAME.....NOT EVEN A PUBLIC APOLOGY NOT THAT IT WOULD MAKE MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE AT THIS LATE STAGE!!

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jlcandu 9 years, 10 months ago

Amen!! You are so right!! I still would like to know what this woman did for this country over the 20+ years she was the PM's wife... All this admiring by her fellow PLP's, one has to wonder ... Can anyone answer this question with a succinct response???

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banker 9 years, 10 months ago

She and her husband are and were both crooks. It brings shame and disrepute to the Bahamas. Every civilised country knows about the Pindling drug running, and yet the government here pretends that it didn't happen. It makes us look so bush, so open to ridicule and enables them to marginalise us as a corrupt banana republic because of these actions of our mentally-deficient prime minister.

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ThisIsOurs 9 years, 10 months ago

I can just imagine a 60 Minutes expose detailing the Pindling era and detailing how the country named their national airport after him and appointed his wife Governor General. How FM holds his head up at the OAS is a puzzle. WikiLeaks reporting should have told him that the people he brushes shoulders with may smile at him but they're not impressed with his first class seating, his impeccable dress or his polished speech. The emperor is naked.

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GrassRoot 9 years, 10 months ago

how about a Bravo TV reality show?

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ThisIsOurs 9 years, 10 months ago

That would do equally as well, possibly better

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bahamian242 9 years, 10 months ago

Well whom ever has paid the Tax, will they receive the property?

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TalRussell 9 years, 10 months ago

It was the wee hours of this morning after I couldn't sleep a Spirit visited me with a message. Comrades I had become too restless over the barrage by bloggers at the character assassination attempts aimed at Mrs. Pindling, so I called out to my dear long departed family friend Baptist Preacherman Dr. W. H. Brown, asking him if he would do some laying of hands upon red bloggers heads, as they slept and report back to me by daybreak, exactly what kind of ugly vibrations he feels coming from their head's? Well, Comrades, I received my answer from the Spirit Angel, contained in a message sent to me by Dr. Brown. It said: Comrade Tal my dear family friend, the best advice I can give to you is, like everything else they tried since their ouster in 2012, it is not Mrs. Pindling they are attacking, for deep in their red hearts, they too have a deep gratitude for all she has sacrificed for her beloved Bahamaland, that it's their way to channel their hatred for PM Christie for having defeated their Papa Hubert, nothing more to it. Then, Dr. Brown' message added a closing footnote; I also detected a hot iron vibration that their greatest fear my not be PM Christie but what they fear most is that; "they have met their real enemy and it is them."

Amen!

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banker 9 years, 10 months ago

Take your pills and return to your bed in Sandilands, and the babbling will stop. May God Bless You and Cure you of your blindness.

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ThisIsOurs 9 years, 10 months ago

If "them" is corrupt politicos, yeah we been seeing "them" from 1973 straight up to present. Happy 41st Bahamas!

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John 9 years, 10 months ago

EXPECT TO SEE MASSIVE SELLOFFS of upscale Bahamian homes over the next few years as Bahamians come to realize they can no longer afford the home of their dreams. This will be especially true on the Eastern end of the island, where many retired people live, and on the Western side of New Providence, where foreign interests keep driving up the value of property. REMEMBER when VAT comes January 1, 2015, a Bahamian Dollar (more correctly a dollar spent in the Bahamas) will only value $92.50 as opposed to what its worth today.

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dfitzerl 9 years, 10 months ago

Truly unfortunate that our people jump to conclusions about how a payment is made and whether the debtor was in a position to pay it prior. It is also even more unfortunate that we accept history as reported by an outsider as gospel rather than determine the facts for ourselves

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ThisIsOurs 9 years, 10 months ago

Fact: the bill was not paid for YEARS, was in the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS and she was being considered as a "representative" for the country. Those are the only facts of interest.

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Bahamianpride 9 years, 10 months ago

The question is about integrity and Trust. Those intrusted with the public's wellbeing and interest must present high moral character. Tax cheating and those that use their positions in life to get around the laws of this land demonstrate poor character and should not be elligible for public office period. On another note John brings up a valuable point, so many of these individuals are having financial issues, not paying their bills. I'm Starting to believe they have shot themselves in the foot by creating a society they themselves can no longer afford.

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John 9 years, 10 months ago

You must also remember that many Bahamians were of the opinion that it is ok to pay the property tax when you sell the property rather than year by year. You cannot say this is "tax cheating" or even "tax evasion" because the government charges 5% interest cumulative on outstanding property taxes. So when a property is sold the government gets a big fat check for all the property tax that was owing up to the point of sale PLUS the 5% interest penalty cumulated over the period that tax was outstanding. Only those that are seeking politicise the issue tend to think people are getting away without paying taxes.

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TalRussell 9 years, 10 months ago

What in the hell is this Mrs.Pindling elitism you closeted reds keep bringing up? Comrade, if it's all about trust and integrity, then why have money laundering allegations been splashed across these hereto Tribune blog pages for days now? Calls for the police to have been called in? The problem with you reds is that even your personal attacks are quickly forced into flip-flopizm. Did you read the latest to come out mouth red party's Chairman Daron? Like Hubert had tried, you too would like to deny her the right to collect and live off her former PM's husband's "much earned" pension. Why are you so damn mean to Mrs. Pindling?

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jlcandu 9 years, 10 months ago

Tal,

Nobody is denying this woman to collect her husband's pension as his widow. The problem is that she is being paid from the Treasury and like most other prominent PLP's, she doesn't pay her taxes. And, now she is being considered for a Governor-General position, an office that requires someone who is actually deserving of the post and has some semblance of integrity.

Mrs. Pindling lost her integrity by not paying the taxes for her multi-million dollar residence. With the salary that she is getting, she should have been able to at least pay something in 14 years!!!

Stop trying to make this an FNM issue -- it is a tax-cheating, tax-dodger issue and ALL MP's who haven't paid their taxes should be named and shamed in the newspaper. WE the public are paying for their salary and THEY want to shove more taxes down our throats. They need to be accountable to the people -- if they can't handle it, they shouldn't be in public office!!!

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ohdrap4 9 years, 10 months ago

The political elite think themselves a dynasty.

Having the money is not the point. The point is to have others pay her bills. Just like when the queen of England asked to have her heating bill paid from the poverty fund. Taking money from the sick and orphaned so she could sit pretty.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/se...">link text

The Bahamian Queen is just emulating her mentor.

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Bahamianpride 9 years, 10 months ago

Tal, this is not about her receiving her Husbands pension, she deserves that. This is about neglecting to pay your taxes.. Any politician of any party is ineligible for office if they neglect to pay their taxes period. If she remaind a private citizen I would be the first to defend her, but she has volunteered to be placed in the Governors Office and the Governor should represent high moral standards. At 81 she probably forgot to pay them, but in that case why even bother with the nonsense of public life at 81. She put herself out there so she should have to answer questions or accept criticism. In my opinion Mrs. Pindling is to old to even be bothered with this B.S, time to join my mom and others relaxing in their old age.

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Purcell 9 years, 10 months ago

This is even worse. She was not unable to pay the tax bill but she deliberately stole from the Bahamian people when she chose not to pay it. Watch this hag not paying another dime while alive.

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Greentea 9 years, 10 months ago

Just think about it- If the government recovered what is owed in Delinquent taxes- It wouldn't have to borrow that 343million it says it needs. It would actually have a surplus of funds- in the neighborhood of 200million dollars. If shaming em gets the delinquents to pay- here's hoping this starts a trend. That is one cheque you know will clear!

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242 9 years, 10 months ago

A cheque to shut everyone up that will NEVER be cashed.

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TalRussell 9 years, 10 months ago

Comrade 242 not sure how this relates to Mrs.Pindling's BEC payment but it would be shocking, if the reports are correct that many millions of dollars in checks made payable to the Ministry of Finance have and remain still have not been deposited to the government's bank account. Reportedly, some of these checks, individually are for amounts in the millions of dollars alone. Unbelievably still, some may have expired by their cash before dates?

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ThisIsOurs 9 years, 10 months ago

Wow, sounds like an investigation is warranted.

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carlh57 9 years, 10 months ago

What's amazing is that the press is actually stepping up and reporting things like this! As a local political observer/commentator has stated, the purpose of the press is to " report information accurately, truthfully, factually, contextually, knowledgeably, ethically, with balance, without bias or agenda and without favor or fear - no matter WHO the information is about. Anything less than or outside of that is either public relations, propaganda or both - but it is not journalism" And THE MEDIA'S JOB IS TO BE THE WATCHDOGS FOR A SOCIETY AND HOLD TO THE FIRE, THE FEET OF ALL PUBLIC OFFICIALS..... THE MEDIA IS NOT SUPPOSED TO SHOW ANYONE PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT - SO PEOPLE WHO ARE MAD NEED TO GET INFORMED, GROW UP IN OUR DEMOCRACY, AND GET OVER IT.......

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PastorTroy 9 years, 10 months ago

In a democracy, when FOIA is law, the country prosper in many ways. Within just a few weeks, due to good investigative journalism, taxpayers (You and me) have been paid almost half a million dollars! (WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT) This should give Bahamians a tastes of FOIA, don't stop the music, whether is's political or not, my Grandmother (god bless her soul) use to say: A liar is a thief and a thief is a murderer. When journalist have freedom to report the news and not be a propaganda machine this is what you get. I am not naive, obviously it appears to be political, but the 'other' party has a major new network in their pockets too, so, divide them (politicians) and rule THEM. #KeepThePressureOnThem

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stephiedib 9 years, 10 months ago

what is the intent of the use of the word "comrade"?

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TalRussell 9 years, 10 months ago

Unfortunately, for you on Mondays the Outpost Store for signing-up for the cause, with the option of buying your very own Comrade Stephiedib beret, happens to be closed.

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John 9 years, 10 months ago

YOU DO THE MATH!!! . According to the documents, as of June 18 the annual real property tax on the home was $14,138.50 with an interest fee of $16,259.25 amounting to a total payment of $30,397.75.

Fourteen years ago, the real property tax on the home was $8,634

. Based on this statement Lady Pindling paid more in annual penalties ($16,259.25) than she was paying in taxes ($14,138.50). Meaning that if she had paid on time she would have paid a total of around $160,000.00 in taxes. But because she was late she had to pay an additional $150,000.00 in penalties.

The point is this: If we assume that of the $500 million owing in property taxes half of that amount is penalties. So then there would be $250 million in outstanding taxes (which is probably on the high side) and another $250 million in penalties. Now lets assume that everyone paid off their taxes and the penalties and the funds were used to pay the national debt which is $5 BILLION and counting. So after paying $500 million on the debt this would leave an outstanding amount of $4.5 billion. Since everyone is now paying their taxes on time, in the following year government will only collect $250 million. They have already borrowed several hundred million this year ($327M appx. in the current budget plus money for other things like defence force boats ($222 million)etc.) and over a billion since coming to office. When you add the property tax to the rest of governments projected revenue you will see the problem is not just with tax collection, but with government being caught up in unprecedented borrowing, run-away spending, wastage, inefficiencies, dishonesty etc. So what happens when the government collects all the monies owing to it but still has a growing national debt and budget deficits. IT WILL PILE MORE TAXES ON THE BACKS OF THE BAHAMIAN PEOPLE!

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John 9 years, 10 months ago

Correction: Actually when you spread the tax owing over the number of years owing the annual revenue from RPT will be around $25 to $30 million and not $250 million.

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Bahamianpride 9 years, 10 months ago

Agree with many statements above, I read these articles sometimes and think there must be poison in the water or something messing up the brain of some individuals to believe that in the year 2014 we are having debate about whether individuals holding or applying for public office are even remotely qualified to be in, considered, or appointed after demonstrating poor character like deliberately not paying taxes , not disclosing income, not paying electric bill as CEO of a government owned electric company, WOOOOOW. Then we wonder why we are being overan by illegals and criminals. 0 standards across the bord PLP/FNM, 0 standards, piss poor accountability, piss poor integrity, no obedience to the rule of law, no dignity to resign when found cheating. Leaders walking around with their heads up after being caught red handed cheating the f---k--g system. Then they threaten or take action against the people who expose them making the true heros of this country victims. These people swore an oath to uphold the laws and values of the Country, to serve the people. If any of these people who were busted cheating respected their country, God, moral values, or had decency, they would resign or retire. Objective standards of character are being debated here i don't see any gray area. How the hell are you going to get people to pay their taxes or light bill when they see the new Governnor did not pay her taxes for 14 years and the CEO of BEC don't pay his light bill. It took whistleblowers to get these people to pay Woow. These are not partisan issues any more than members of any party not filling financial disclosures. If u don't file u should be punished period. Those who cannot see the moral discrepancies good luck with crime.

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