| Government files first Crown land “flipping” case | | Print | |
| Tuesday, 28 September 2010 15:32 | |||
 The government has accused a Providenciales man of getting title to Crown land in Long Bay Hills for $50,000 in January 2008 and selling it two months later to a developer for $1.35 million. The Civil Recovery Team has asked the Supreme Court to order Richardson Anthony Arthur of Cheshire Hall to return to the government the $1.3 million in profit he made for “flipping” the property. The parcel is one of several pieces of land that make up a proposed development on the northeast end of Long Bay Beach. Arthur got a conditional lease to buy the parcel in April 2007 for the purpose of building a single family home, the government alleges. However, the government says Arthur then agreed in September 2007 to sell the parcel to 172 Limited, which planned to develop the land. In January 2008, Arthur paid $50,000 to obtain freehold title to the property, then sold it to 172 Limited in March 2008 for $1.35 million, according to the government. The allegations against Arthur were filed Aug. 11 but were only made public Sept. 27 after Arthur was served. The Civil Recovery Team is led by Laurence Harris, who heads the London office of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, an international firm with more than 500 lawyers worldwide. The team was hired to work with the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team to investigate allegations made in the Commission of Inquiry last year and other matters not mentioned in the inquiry. Click HERE to read the court documents. This is the first case involving Crown land flipping and was not mentioned in the inquiry, but the team said it will be making more similar cases. In July the team and the government filed a court action seeking to cancel the Joe Grant Cay development and reclaim more than 600 acres of Crown land, alleging the developers bribed former premier Michael Misick in the deal. In April, the team asked the Supreme Court to halt the Salt Cay resort development and return 239 acres of Crown land. Court documents accused Salt Cay Devco Ltd., Salt Cay Devco Estates Ltd. and Salt Cay Golf Club Ltd. of using “a series of corrupt transactions” to gain advantages in their plans for the tiny island. The team is also reviewing the development on Dellis Cay and the Third Turtle development on Providenciales. Developers in all these cases have denied any wrongdoing.
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