Indeed, if you study all angles, It's a complicated dispute - but at the heart of it - it's about land - 23 acres of beach frontage on the periphery of an island.
Stake Bank Enterprises says it was supposed to own all that frontage and without it - the cruise ship facility is basically landlocked - and cannot build or operate.
So that's why government has made the public acquisition.
But, the history of all the beach frontage has some interesting twists.Tonight we've put together a story from earlier this year along with new information on the land title for this 23 acres in dispute. Jules Vasquez reports:
posted (March 26, 2024)
This is the original Stake Bank island we saw in 2007 - first with mangroves, and this is it today. The shape and size have changed substantially as the Port Coral project has developed.
And that change is the subject of a pivotal dispute between the Atlantic Bank- which loaned a portion of the money for the project - and the developer, Mike Feinstein.
Feinstein has title for all that reclaimed land - which is the portion outside the red outline - a shade under 24 acres - in his name. Inside the red area, it's 16.3 acres - that's what the bank holds - including an easement at the west end.
In July attorney for Stake Bank enterprises in receivership, Dean Barrow wrote to the Minister of Natural Resources about what is called "the Extension" saying, "The Receiver strongly believes that on the 8th November, 2021 when the Government issued Minister's Fiat Grant No. 881 of 2021 for 23.4 acres of land -the Extension, in the name of Michael Feinstein it did so with the understanding that he would similarly transfer it to SBEL to enable the Project's completion. It was, at all times, understood by SBEL, Mr. Feinstein (as Director), and SBEL's financiers (principally Atlantic Bank and Operaciones Portuarias S.A. de C.V....that the Extension would, together with the island's original 16.085 acres, be owned by SBEL...Mr. Feinstein has refused to transfer the Extension to SBEL."
But in June of 2023, when he appeared on Uncut Feinstein denied that the land was in the name of any entity other than Stake Bank Enterprises:
Jules Vasquez
"But one of the one of the concerns is that this 13.2 acres, you know, the bank had a certain security on it, But when they found out, they found out that this 13.2 is held by another company."
Mike Feinstein, Stake Bank
"No, everything belongs to the Stake Bank."
Jules Vasquez:
"Everything. So it's not in a, you see..."
Mike Feinstein, Stake Bank
"Everything belongs to Stake Bank"
Jules Vasquez:
"So now."
Mike Feinstein, Stake Bank
"Well, I'm just."
Jules Vasquez:
"They say It was carved out and put in another company's name was source for dispute. Denying it?"
Mike Feinstein, Stake Bank
"Yeah, of course."
But the title which we now have possession of clearly has Feinstein as the sole owner. And the price? He paid government 150,000 dollars for the 23 acres.
Now, three years later he will likely demand many, many multiples of that figure in compensation.
In one more odd twist, those 23 acres which government has now acquired from Mike Feisntein will now become the property of Stake. Bank Enterprises - of which Feinstein is still a 50% shareholder.
And to clarify, the group out of Honduras, known as OPSA is the creditor which has so far loaned Stake Bank Enterprises 135 million US dollars to develop the Port. It will have to invest possibly as much as 50 million US more to bring it to completion.
