BAHAMIAN OPPOSITION LEADER QUESTIONS WHY HIS COUNTRY IS DOING BUSINESS WITH THE FUGITIVE FRAUDSTER RYAN BATEMAN

Ryan Bateman

Doctor Herbert Minnis, a leader of the Opposition in the Bahamian House of Assembly, has accused his country's government of continuing to conduct business with a "man known to swindle," after information surfaced about Cayman Islands resident Ryan Bateman, who is both a fugitive from justice, and accused of absconding with over $450m in funds of Canadian & American pensioners. He made these allegations, publicly, in open session of the Assembly.

Ryan Bateman, who reportedly has been issued seven government licenses to drill for oil, within Bahamian sovereign waters, is wanted in Grand Cayman, on charges of violent domestic abuse, and reliable sources there have stated that he committed sexual battery upon a former spouse. Bateman broke the conditions of his pretrial bail when he failed to return to Grand Cayman for trial.

According to Bahamian media, Bateman has alleged that the arrest warrant is not longer outstanding, but Cayman residents advise that he is still a fugitive from justice in that case, which remains active. Additionally, Bateman is one of the notorious Cayman Gang of Four*, a group of local financial advisers who are reputed to have stolen close to a half a billion dollars from their victims, and then fled Grand Cayman; Bateman is hiding somewhere in Florida.

Some observers believe that some of the missing money was laundered in the Bahamas, and also in Cuba, and that Bateman, whose sordid past in securities trading should have barred the Government of the Bahamas from entering into any contractual relationship, had it performed even rudimentary due diligence in advance, intends to use the stolen funds to bankroll an oil exploration operation, in the Bahamas, and in the waters surrounding the Republic of Cuba, a country with whom he also has a relationship.

Dr. Minnis is eminently correct; the leaders of the Bahamas should have had no business with Bateman, whose self-serving statements of fifteen years' experience in the petroleum business are a total fabrication. His history indicates that he is a career criminal, leaving victims, first in the Province of Alberta, and now in the Cayman Islands. Apparently, there's nobody in compliance on duty in Nassau; otherwise, they would have disqualified Bateman immediately.
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* The Cayman Gang of Four are: Ryan Bateman, Sharon Lexa Lamb, Fernando Mota Mendes, and Derek Buntain.