REAL NEWS: News reaching REAL News is that former Google CEO and softwareengineer Eric Schmidt has backed out of the Alfa Nero sale, andreports have surfaced that a Cabinet member has been seeking tomake millions from selling the superyacht to another party.
The Gaston Browne Administration has been silent on the matter these past several weeks. The last time the matter purportedly was discussed in the Cabinet was on July 26, as the July 27 Cabinet Notes reported holding a discussion on the sale of the Alfa Nero and the pending lawsuits. It was noted that these court challenges were delaying the final transfer of the vessel from the Government – the current owner – to Schmidt, who had submitted the winning bid at the June 16 auction.
Several lawsuits are before the High Court and the Court of Appeal,with one party being the daughter of the vessel’s alleged originalowner, Russian oligarch Andrey Guryev. At that time the Cabinet Notes acknowledged that the court casesmight take several weeks to resolve, and therefore payment wasfurther delayed until such time as the courts are no longer involved.Now, however, there are claims that Schmidt has backed out of thedeal, despite the Administration’s promise to indemnify him againstsubsequent legal challenges.
Sources also allege that a Cabinet member has entered into an
agreement with the second highest bidder, whose offer was US$66
million.
It is alleged that the member presented to his colleagues a legal
agreement that obligated the Government – in essence, the
taxpayers – to foot the bill for fees which totaled several million
dollars.
This was turned down by the Cabinet, however. Sources say that Prime Minister Gaston Browne was out of the country at the time the member approached Cabinet with the proposal. A source is wondering how the Cabinet member could expect the Government to pay for private work.
Any work done on behalf ofthe second-highest bidder ought to be paid for directly by him, thesource notes
Earlier reports said that an attorney had challenged the Government
for reneging on its own agreement. He charged that the Government had failed to sell the yacht to the second highest bidder after Schmidt missed the seven-day payment deadline on June 27th –reportedly on the advice of his attorneys..In the meantime, the vessel remains docked in Falmouth Harbour in the heart of the 2023 hurricane season.
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