And so while government has an indemnity and a deposit - they also have a fight on their hands and it's coming from the Feinstein group of companies.
As we've reported, GOB is taking away 23 acres of Stake Bank island from owner Mike Feinstein and giving it to his former company, Stake Bank Enterprises Limited, or SBEL - which is now in receivership. SBEL is being managed to recover the debt owed to its creditor, an investment group called OPSA out of Honduras.
Well, today Feinstein struck back at the unprecedented move with a hard talking press release. The statement says, quote, "government's high-handed interference in a private sector dispute live before the High Court is unfair and improper."
The statement alleges, quote, "government is siding with Honduran businessmen of questionable business practices." End quote. The statement then goes onto add, quote_ "earlier this year the domestic Atlantic Bank Ltd was slapped with a substantial fine by the Central Bank of Belize for irregular banking practices."
It then states, quote, "these Honduran businessmen have no experience in developing cruise ship port facilities. Michael Feinstein is a Belizean entrepreneur with a proven track record (in cruise port development).
And moving on from the Honduran businessmen to the politicians in Belmopan, the statement alleges that the government quote, "purposely undermined the Stake Bank project by senior Cabinet ministers supporting…Port of Magical Belize, which turned out to be a spectacular fiasco"
And the statement adds, quote, "The Group is aware that the decision to acquire its chairman's 23.4 acres came on the heels of a recent private meeting between one of the Honduran businessmen and Prime Minister John Briceno."
It concludes, quote, "The Group has consulted with its legal advisors, Marine Parade Chambers LLP, who have advised that the High Court is likely to declare the acquisition as lacking any legitimate public purpose, its true purpose being to satisfy the specific and immediate interests of the Honduran businessmen." End quote.
