The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A COMPANY with ties to an accused drug trafficker acquired substantial assets in New Providence’s Venice Bay subdivision after embarking on a real estate spending spree that saw it purchase 27 lots for a combined $1.155m in less than three months.

Corporate documents filed with the Registry of Records, which is maintained by the Registrar General’s Department, reveal that Jonathan Gardiner, now in federal custody after being seized by US authorities following the May 12 general election plane crash, was in 2016 named as the president of Jaric Enterprises Ltd.

Filings seen by Tribune Business reveal that Jaric Enterprises purchased lots in Venice Bay, located on New Providence’s southern shore on Bacardi Road, at prices ranging from a low of $28,460 to a high of $75,000 between October 20, 2003, and January 13, 2004. All bar six of the lots, most of which were purchased from the subdivision’s original developer, Venice Bay Holdings, attracted a $38,460 purchase price.

Many of these lots were the subject of bulk purchases, which took place on two dates - November 4, 2003, and January 13, 2004 - and saw Jaric Enterprises buy multiple land parcels at the same time. The company then turned around and began to re-sell these lots from 2006 onwards - sometimes at prices that were more than double, even four times’ greater, than what it originally paid to acquire the land.

For example, two different lots acquired by Jaric Enterprises for $38,460 apiece were subsequently sold for $90,000 in September 2016 and June 2017, respectively, representing a 134 percent increase. Another lot, originally purchased for $38,460, sold for four times’ greater at $155,000 in October 2010.

According to an affidavit of beneficial ownership filed with the Deeds and Documents section of the Registrar General’s Department on August 2, 2013, one Spence Burton Dorsett swore under oath that he was Jaric Enterprises’ “president, director and the beneficial owner of all the shares” in the Bahamian-domiciled company.

However, just three years later, the conveyance for the $90,000 lot sale in September 2016 names Jonathan Gardiner as “the president” of Jaric Enterprises. He signs the conveyance in this capacity to execute the sale, which came “by the order and with the authority of the Board of Directors” of Jaric Enterprises. The conveyance was filed with the registry by the Cedric Parker & Company law firm. Mr Gardiner’s action was witnessed by Samson Hield as Jaric Enterprises’ assistant secretary - the very same person who swore a separate affidavit of beneficial ownership asserting that he owned 100 percent of Top Notch Builders.

That is the construction company which Mr Gardiner, in evidence and filings with the southern federal New York last week, confirmed is his “business” while revealing that he has signatory authority over the contractor’s bank accounts. The Venice Bay purchases also occured around the time that Top Notch Builders was itself established in 2002.

Numerous Tribune Business contacts, speaking on condition of anonymity, have confirmed that Mr Dorsett is Mr Gardiner’s nephew. Their relationship is illustrated by this newspaper’s own obituary records for Synida Rose Gardiner Dorsett, which list Mr Dorsett as her son and also identify an ‘Eric Gardiner’ as one of her siblings. This makes Mr Gardiner the uncle of Mr Dorsett.

Mr Dorsett’s affidavit of beneficial ownership was signed, notarised and filed with the Registrar General’s Department by attorney Michael Foulkes, the former Free National Movement (FNM) MP for Golden Gates who unsuccessfully ran for the same seat in the May 12 general election.

Mr Foulkes, a former parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development, has not responded to multiple Tribune Business phone calls and messages seeking comment on the legal work he performed for Mr Dorsett and Jaric Enterprises. This included Mr Dorsett’s own purchase of a Venice Bay lot from Jaric Enterprises in early August 2013 at around the same time he swore the affidavit of beneficial ownership.

Other documents seen by this newspaper show that Jaric Enterprises even held an “extraordinary general meeting” at the offices of Bethel, Moss & Company, the law firm in which Mr Foulkes was then a partner on September 26, 2011, to approve the lot’s sale to Mr Dorsett. There is no suggestion that Mr Foulkes has done anything wrong in relation to Jaric Enterprises.

Multiple Tribune Business sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, have further confirmed Mr Gardiner’s connections to substantial real estate investments in Venice Bay. These represent holdings likely to attract the attention of US prosecutors and the southern New York federal court when it comes to asset forfeitures, where they will seek to confiscate Mr Gardiner’s property if he is found guilty or as part of a plea bargain deal.

Mr Gardiner’s appearance as the president of Jaric Enterprises occurred just before he swore a February 13, 2017, affidavit denying that he was the beneficial owner of Top Notch Builders despite being its president and a director. The veracity of that affidavit has been undermined by the very evidence he submitted in the southern New York district court, which purported to show $20,000 of the $30,000 in election day cash was withdrawn by himself from Top Notch Builders’ bank account.

Michael Pintard, the Opposition’s leader, in a letter to Shanta Knowles, the Royal Bahamas Police Force commissioner, yesterday said Mr Gardiner’s own admissions have only increased the need and urgency for a probe into potential money laundering, falsifying of corporate records and ‘fronting’ involving Top Notch Builders.

“Additional information has come to light which materially strengthens the basis for a targeted financial investigation into potential money laundering, non-disclosure of beneficial ownership and the misuse of corporate structures to conceal control of funds,” he wrote.

“In particular, emerging evidence suggests a potential fundamental inconsistency between Top Notch Builders' formal corporate records and the apparent exercise of control over its financial accounts.

“Specifically, there are credible indications that an individual, Mr Eric Gardiner, not reflected in the company’s corporate filings may nonetheless have exercised direct access to - and control over - the company’s bank accounts, including the withdrawal of significant sums. This disconnect between recorded ownership and actual control of funds is highly significant.”

Tribune Business previously revealed that Top Notch Builders was deemed to be non-compliant with the Register of Beneficial Ownership Act 2018. Mr Gardiner’s affidavit the prior year appeared to be an effort to put distance between himself and the contractor, as he attested that Mr Hield was its 100 percent beneficial owner - something refuted by the former’s own court filings.

Calling for a “full review” of all bank accounts held by Top Notch and its affiliates, Mr Pintard added: “Under the applicable legal framework governing financial transactions reporting and beneficial ownership disclosure, such a mismatch may indicate the use of corporate entities to obscure the identity of the true controlling party and, in turn, may be consistent with established indicators of money laundering activity.

“Against that background, we respectfully urge that the ongoing investigation be sure to include a detailed forensic examination of the banking relationships associated with Top Notch Builders and all related entities….. This review should include the identification of all authorised signatories to those accounts over time, the dates on which such authority was granted or revoked, and the actual pattern of usage of the accounts.

“Of critical importance is the need to obtain and analyse the Know Your Customer (KYC) documentation and due diligence records held by the banking institutions, including all declarations of beneficial ownership submitted at the time of account opening and during subsequent reviews,” the Opposition leader added.

“Such records will be central to determining whether any individual not reflected in the corporate filings was nonetheless recorded by the financial institutions as a beneficial owner, a signatory, or a person exercising effective control over the accounts. Any divergence between the bank’s KYC records and the filings maintained by the Registrar General would, in itself, be a matter of serious concern requiring careful investigation.”

Calling for particular scrutiny of major cash withdrawals and deposits; transfers between Top Notch Builders and its affiliates; and “structuring and layering of transactions” to obscure where monies were coming from and being moved to, Mr Pintard also urged the police to probe the contractor’s ties to the flagship Renaissance at Carmichael Village affordable housing subdivision.

Tribune Business previously revealed that Complete Construction, the Carmichael Village contractor, was owned by Top Notch Builders and effectively its alias, front or alter ego. “It is essential that the investigation trace the flow of funds between Top Notch Builders and its subsidiaries, affiliates and related companies, including but not limited to entities engaged in construction or development activities linked to government projects,” Mr Pintard added.

“Particular attention should be directed to the relationship between Top Notch Builders and entities associated with public projects, including the interface with Carmichael Village Project Development Company, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) established by the Government. We understand that this SPV was established by the same legal firm that has served as the registered agent for Top Notch Builders.” That law firm is Bowe Partners and attorney Alecia Bowe.

The Opposition leader continued: “The investigative authorities should examine all financial flows between these entities and public sector counterparties, including any payments arising under government contracts, to determine whether such funds were subsequently transferred through layers of corporate entities in a manner consistent with concealment or obfuscation.

“The investigation should also address whether any special purpose vehicles, subsidiaries, or related corporate arrangements were used to facilitate the commingling of public funds with private financial flows, or otherwise created opportunities for the layering and integration of funds in ways that may be inconsistent with lawful commercial practice….

“The matters now before the authorities are no longer confined to allegations of narcotics trafficking. They raise the prospect of a broader misuse of corporate and financial systems to conceal ownership, control financial flows and obscure the origin of funds. These are issues that directly affect the integrity of the country’s financial system and its compliance with international standards.”