The Tribune

FORMER Free National Movement Chairman Darron Cash has said he will not apologise for raising new concerns of conflict of interest regarding Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson and her connection to the $3.5 billion Baha Mar resort.

On Wednesday, Mrs Maynard-Gibson released a statement calling for an apology from Mr Cash.

“Mr Cash should know better than to act in such appallingly bad faith,” Mrs Maynard-Gibson said. “My prior statement on the matter speaks for itself, and I invite him to review it.

“As he knows full well, it is a matter of public record that shortly after becoming a member of Cabinet in 2002, I disposed of my entire interest in Gibson and Company. Since then I have not been in possession of any confidential information relating to (Sarkis) Izmirlian or any of his affiliated companies.

“Mr Cash is intentionally misleading the Bahamian public and for this he should apologise,” she said.

Mrs Maynard-Gibson was responding to a statement released by Mr Cash on Tuesday.

At that time, Mr Cash questioned whether Mrs Maynard-Gibson has protected her personal interests while at the negotiating table with Baha Mar executives following years of reported legal representation to the resort’s developer, Mr Izmirlian.

Mr Cash insisted that in his opinion the attorney general is in a “very clear and undeniable conflict” which should have excluded her from playing the leading role in Baha Mar negotiations.

This conflict, he said, is reflected in records that list Mrs Maynard-Gibson or her law firm – Gibson and Company – as Mr Izmirlian’s attorney on several major occasions beginning in 2001 and through 2005.

These transactions related to land purchases in Mr Izmirlian’s personal capacity in addition to major financial transactions connected to the Baha Mar development, Mr Cash said. However, he did not provide copies of these documents.