(AP)— The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda on Tuesday dismissed allegations that his administration has not been transparent about the sale of a seized megayacht and how the proceeds were used.
The statement by Prime Minister Gaston Browne comes a day after a federal judge in New York granted attorneys permission to issue subpoenas to access the financial records of Browne and other officials.
The attorneys represent Yulia Guryeva-Motlokhov, who claims she is the rightful owner of the Alfa Nero megayacht, which remained anchored off Antigua for a couple months before the local government seized and sold it last year.
Guryeva-Motlokhov’s attorneys alleged in a March 11 filing in federal court that Browne’s administration has not released documents related to the $40 million sale of the yacht.
The attorneys are seeking documents and information related to wire transfers and other transactions involving Antigua’s prime minister and six other people, as well as 12 entities, in the past five years.
The entities include West Indies Oil Co. Ltd., an Antigua-based petroleum storage and distribution company of which the government is a majority shareholder, and Fancy Bridge Ltd., a Hong Kong-based investment firm that owns shares in the oil company, as does Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., known as PDVSA.
The institutions that the attorneys plan to subpoena are required to comply with the request for information unless Browne or someone else files a motion opposing the subpoenas.
Browne said in a public statement Tuesday that he is discussing legal remedies with his attorneys in Antigua and the U.S.
He also told The Associated Press that his attorneys may challenge the judge’s ruling.
The case focuses on a megayacht abandoned by Guryeva-Motlokhov’s father, Andrey Guryev, a Russian businessman who founded a fertilizer company and worked in the Russian government. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in August 2022.
Browne on Tuesday accused Guryeva-Motlokhov of falsely claiming that she was entitled to the yacht “in order to claim for herself the sales proceeds and damages and rob the people of Antigua & Barbuda of these public benefits.”
“She and her attorneys have made scandalous, malicious and entirely false accusations in order to further her illicit ends,” Browne said in a statement. “The principal targets of her defamatory comments have been myself, and members of my family. There is not a grain of truth to any of these attacks on my, or my family’s integrity.”
Martin De Luca, one of Guryeva-Motlokhov’s attorneys, told the AP that they stand by the allegations in the March 11 filing.
“This isn’t about politics,” De Luca said. “It’s about following the money. Browne’s personal attacks won’t change the fact that real financial records — not his statements — will expose what happened to the Alfa Nero proceeds.”
Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]
What???
Gaston Browne refects allegations??????
Really???
Is he deliberate or has advanced dementia?
The sale was done secretly.
Gaston himself said that we didn’t need to know.
If we didnt need to know then why do we now?
Is he trying to rope innocent people in a corrupt act?
If the citizens di not need to know about government workings does the Russian need to know?
Why?
Will the Russian get genuine or falsified documents?
Was he manufacturing documents in his office?
Did I hear him accused Telemacque og selling the Russian yacht?
It wasn’t me. Shuggy???
Do you have all the genuine documents that the courts may need?
He did withhold details. Who in Antigua other than his ministers knew the name of the buyer before this debacle???
MERCY MR PERCY!!!
We begged Prime Minister Browne not to get involved in the sale and long-term shenanigans of the Alpha Nero super yacht. Because selling someone else’s property was always going to get the true owner or their relatives involved at some stage.
But no, oh no, Browne thought he knew better than a lot of well educated and critical thinking Antiguans; and furthermore, why oh why didn’t his close advisers or Cabinet Minister’s tell him that getting involved with other people’s property was definitely a no no!
DOES HE HAVE ANY CLOSE ADVISERS???
And look ya now, Browne now seems disturbed, disoriented, discombobulated, and dare I say “DERACINATED” 😁
Some people like our Prime Minister are oblivious to the troubles surrounding them; as the Jamaicans would say:
Fyah de a mus mus tail, him tink a cool breeze.
Brixy is on fire as always… 🔥
If am clean I wasn’t going to challenge the u.s judge, it’s not about Antiguan sovereignty you are conflating the issue, it’s not about Antigua people, it’s an individual matter, because the people had no say in the government actions of selling a boat, they went to parliament and played academic at passing laws for thieving ,we the people was there going about our day to day struggle while parliament convened at our detriment costing us catering services to feed these fat greedy politicians among other things, so Antigua sovereignty is not been threatened, only Gaston and his friends, no wonder marshall backed out of politics because enough box hand from legal work selling this boat.
Hey Gatson… I am 100 sure if you go down to 1735 right now and ask the prisoners if they are innocent or guilty of their charges, I guarantee that 99% would tell you did not do he crime they were accused of.
So why should we believe and not those prisoners?
If that’s the case, go down there and pardon every one of them right now and let them go. lol.
But we know that will not happen, because they are as guilty as can be, same way you are guilty in covering up this matter, and all indication seems to lead to a massive coverup.
So, the question is this. if there is nothing to hide, why the coverup, why all now we don’t even know who bought the boat?
So, stop using the word transparency, because there is none in your cabinet. half-truth won’t work this time, the public and of course these Russian lawyers are hell bent on seeking the truth.
We hear you talking Gatson, but no one believe you, because you are Guilty, at least by public perception, with the rest to come.
Hey Gatson… I am 100 sure if you go down to 1735 right now and ask the prisoners if they are innocent or guilty of their charges, I guarantee that 99% of them would tell you they did not do he crime they were accused of.
So why should we believe you and not those prisoners?
If that’s the case, go down there and pardon every one of them right now and let them go. lol.
But we know that will not happen, because they are as guilty as can be, same way you are guilty in covering up this matter, and all indication seems to lead to a massive coverup.
So, the question is this. if there is nothing to hide, why the coverup, why all now we don’t even know who bought the boat?
So, stop using the word transparency, because there is none in your cabinet. half-truth won’t work this time, the public and of course these Russian lawyers are hell bent on seeking the full truth.
We hear you talking Gatson, but no one believe you, because you are Guilty, at least by public perception, with the rest to come.
My take on this is as follows. If there’s nothing to hide, just be as forthcoming as possible, present all what they ask for and let us get this matter behind us once and for all. No sense in putting up a fight if you are right. It would only be seen in the courts of public opinion as an unnecessary resistance intended to conceal the truth. Just lay all the cards down on the table and let’s get over with this matter as quickly as possible. A long legal fight benefits no one and lawyers in Antigua and the US would end up singing all the way to the bank while Antiguan tax payers feel the heat.
Look into the oil refinery also
Unfortunately it’s Antigua people who will pay.
Remember Half Moon Bay …you all !!!
Shook children will still paying for something that happened before they were born
This matter certainly has the Prime Minister’s attention.
And rightfully so!!
They have now made it personal, his wife , son and specific individuals..
They are seeking the assistance from the United States, at a time when there is a Russian friendly president in office..
Clearly these people obviously believe that they were wronged by the Antiguan government.
We know this because they are using every legal means available to them to get some sort of justice.
Question for PM Brown.
Sir do you think that when they do not get the desired outcome from all these legal battles, do you really think these people will be satisfied and contented..
Do you think they will just say forget it and sail off into the sunset .
Mr PM buckle up because I think it’s going to be a rough ride….
The question for the people of Antigua and Barbuda. Who is picking up the legal cost for these litigations?
The public do not recognize the gravity of this matter.
Assuming Prime Minister Brown wins the legal cases he is faced with, there is still a tremendous cost for these cases to go through hearings and the courts.
Should he and his associates refuse to attend the Depositions, they will be supeanored.
It’s unlikely the Prime Minister will be able to squash the supeoners.
In the mean time the legal meter is running at USD $3,000 per hour, before he recognizes he must appear and answer questions.
The Prime Minister’s loquacious tongue and verbal gymnastics will not be of any use to him while being deposed by some of the best lawyers there is.
There are a few excellent Antiguan attorneys practicing in the US.
One highly regarded one is practicing out of the same city of the office handling this deposition. Get in touch with her Mr. PM, she can save us some money.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXOels00BpM
The Prime Minister says he has provided documentation that supports his position that the boat was sold for $40 million: and it shows how the money was distributed.
The PM is a financial man. He should know no where in the world except in the Eastern Caribbean will a Court accept these type of statement, made up by the same parties accused of stealing the money.
In fact this document will be used against him; when he is forced to produce the “source documents”
Can you imagine being audited by the UK Inland Revenue Service or the IRS and you present this made up document.
Now an international legal matter; certainly the courts in The US and Russia, will ask for more and that will be when the rubber hits the road.
The Eastern Caribbean Courts may accept this made up document, but it will not fly elsewhere.
Courts in the US and Russia will not accept The Document made up by OM Gaston Browne and his people. They will accept “Source Documents” only.
I’m seeing signs of desperation on the part of PM Browne. I’m concerned about his health.
We need him to be in the best of health as he takes over the Chair of both CARICOM and The ECCB.
We know he is TOP Dwag and all of that; but he is human, and can only take so much.
We do not need our Prime Minister going into mental breakdown.
That’s not good for the Country, and it’s not good for the Region. He need our prayers.
🎶 What ah Riddim @ 🔥 Fyah. Much respect boss … 🤜🏽🤛🏽