PETER Nygard sent thousands of dollars per month to a Bank of America account belonging to Labour and National Insurance Minister Shane Gibson between August 2011 and January 2013, documents obtained by The Tribune show. The payments totalled $94,131.10.
Mr Gibson did not immediately acknowledge that the transactions occurred when he was contacted yesterday, but after seeing the documents presented to him by The Tribune, he admitted receipt of the funds.
He claimed the money was used as a contribution to his 2012 election campaign and for community initiatives in the Golden Gates constituency such as scholarships to students.
The deposits were made once per month in $5,000 tranches between August 4, 2011, when Mr Gibson was an opposition parliamentarian, to January 8, 2013, when Mr Gibson was a substantive Cabinet minister.
The documents obtained by The Tribune appeared to be records belonging to Mr Nygard, a Canadian fashion mogul who resides in the affluent community of Lyford Cay, or his associates.
Eighteen of Mr Nygard’s payments to Mr Gibson were listed as being for “professional services”, though one of $4,131.10 was listed as being for “travel” from Nassau to Miami.
Mr Gibson, whose personal files were not the ones The Tribune obtained, could not say what the payment for “travel” pertained to.
Asked why Mr Nygard sent money to his Bank of America account rather than to a local bank, he said the fashion mogul did this for “no particular reason”.
“He asked if I had a US account and I said yes,” Mr Gibson said.
In the documents obtained by The Tribune, the transactions were represented as springing from a transfer of goods between a buyer and a seller, with the purchase order type labelled “Goods RCVD” and the buyer identified as a person whom The Tribune understands is Mr Nygard’s financial controller.
In the absence of campaign finance legislation or regulations for money donated to constituencies, Mr Gibson is not prohibited from receiving any amount of money from a person.
This likely will not stop critics from faulting the transactions, however, as for years they have said relations between Mr Nygard and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) are too close.
Over the years, Mr Nygard has sought approvals from the government for a variety of projects related to his Lyford Cay property but in the past, PLP officials have avoided saying directly whether they received money from Mr Nygard.
In accordance with the law, Mr Gibson said he received Central Bank of the Bahamas approval to hold his money in a foreign currency.
In a statement released to The Tribune last night, he noted: “Thanks to contributions from Mr Nygard and others, I, as a member of Parliament was able to continue many community initiatives like a scholarship programme, awarding tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships to deserving students in my constituency whose parents could not afford to cover their full tuition.
“Additionally, Golden Gates was able to run a successful election campaign in the run up to the 2012 general election. Following our victory at the polls, those contributions enabled me to pay off debt incurred during the campaign season. I think it is sad and unfortunate that those who oppose me would seek to tarnish something that has benefited so many people in my constituency simply to grab headlines and win a seat.
“For 15 years, I have dedicated my all to bettering the lives of the people of Golden Gates and I will not let this distract from the work we still have to do for those great constituents.”
According to court documents filed last year by environmental group Save The Bays in connection to an alleged murder for hire lawsuit against Mr Nygard, it was alleged that Prime Minister Perry Christie promised the Canadian fashion mogul that he would issue him a lease to build on government property.
Mr Nygard is purportedly shown expressing frustration over Mr Christie’s failure to make good on his assurances in a covert video recording included in court documents as the findings of an investigation paid for by Save The Bays.
And in 2013, concerns were raised that Mr Nygard donated $5 million to the PLP’s election campaign.
In exchange for such financial backing, then Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn told House of Assembly members at the time that it is speculated that Mr Nygard was expecting certain approvals in return from the government.
Speaking in the House of Assembly at the time in response to Mr Lightbourn, Mr Gibson said: “I just want to say that there is no $5 million donated to the PLP.”
Mr Gibson was forced to resign as Immigration minister in February, 2007, after a scandal involving the American actress and model Anna Nicole Smith over his fast-tracking of her permanent residency in the Bahamas.