We are hearing much, very recently, on the legality, or otherwise, of the web-shop funds currently held at Bank of the Bahamas and the outright refusal of the other Bahamian banks and some American banks, in the United States, to accept those funds coming from BoB.
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t our Attorney General, amidst great ballyhoo – and, no doubt, at great expense to the Bahamian People, travel to Europe to discuss this matter of our web-shop funds and the legality of same, with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)? And I further ask, didn’t she subsequently return to our fair shores stating that there is no problem the matter has been solved, or words to that effect?
I ask these questions because we, the long suffering Bahamian People, have NEVER seen any written report from the honourable lady concerning those meetings. What is being hidden, Madam, we not only want to know, we need to know what happened in Europe?
Again I ask because I remember a conversation I had with one of our web-shop owners on this matter; he stated, categorically, that NO foreign bank, anywhere in the world, is prepared to accept deposits from an on-line gambling concern; a physical casino, yes, but an on-line operation, no. This begs the question, why? I understand that there are many unsavoury characters involved in the on-line gaming industry … and? I’m quite certain Las Vegas and Atlantic City were never “lily-white” either. So come on banks do some proper due diligence and weed out the “bad apples” and get on with the business at hand.
I return to Madam Attorney General and ask again, what happened at the FATF meetings? We demand to know what you and your other government members are doing to our, once proud, nation.
Yours in anger,
H Armbrister
