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Last Updated: Feb 27, 2012 - 10:12:46 PM |
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Turks and Caicos Sun: The Turks and Caicos Islands has won a $9.29 million judgment against a
former U.S. billionaire and timber magnate who founded an
ultra-exclusive resort in the Montana Rockies, officials announced
Wednesday. Chief Justice Edwin Goldsborough ruled that Tim Blixseth, founder of the
Yellowstone Club, helped conceal the true value of his Turks and Caicos
retreat called Emerald Cay and underpaid a stamp duty tax on the
acquisition deal. The Chief Justice ruled that $1.7million is owed in
stamp duty, $6.9million in penalties on stamp duty and $571,118 in
interest on stamp duty owed.
“It simply cannot be the case that fraudulent declaration as to the
value leading to an under-stamping does not attract a penalty when the
true value of the stamping does not take place within the period allowed
for that to take place,” the Chief Justice said. “If this transaction
is to be stamped, and it must be, it can only be stamped now with the
payment of the correct amount of duty, which this and the previous
judgment now establishes and only then, with a penalty of four times the
value of the duty payable.
Attorney General Huw Shepheard said the judgment against Blixseth,
Emerald Cay Ltd. and Worldwide Commercial Properties Ltd. replaces an
interim award of $1.25 million because of stiffer penalties. "We are
delighted to have obtained this judgment, which underlines the
commitment the government has to ensuring stamp duty is paid, and to
pursue those who do avoid stamp duty," said Shepheard. Blixseth's Boston
lawyer, Michael Flynn, said the defense team was not sure about the
possibilities of pursuing an appeal, but he contended that the seller,
Gary di Silvestre, was at fault.
Blixseth's team will sue Di Silvestre "for perpetrating this fraud on us
and the government," Flynn said in an email. "We intend to collect $28M
from (him) and expose his fraud with the government." Flynn has
previously said his client would fight the case to the highest court in
Britain, if necessary.
Blixseth bought the 5-acre island in the Turks and Caicos Islands in
2005. Government asserted that Blixseth paid $28 million for Emerald Cay
while land transfer documents recorded the purchase at just $10
million. They accused him and other defendants of conspiring to avoid
payment of taxes of $2.73 million and instead paying $975,000. They
pressed for outstanding stamp duty of some $1.75 million as well as a
penalty of roughly $7 million.
Blixseth's Emerald Cay property has a nine-bedroom mansion with man-made
sandy beach, several docks and a retractable bridge linking it with the
island of Providenciales. Blixseth had planned to include the island in
his Yellowstone Club World luxury residence group before filing for
bankruptcy.
Blixseth was once proclaimed a billionaire in Forbes magazine's list of
the 400 richest Americans. He founded the Yellowstone Club, a
millionaires-only resort that counted former Vice President Dan Quayle
and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt among its members.
The ski and golf club fell into bankruptcy some three years ago, and
CrossHarbor Capital Partners of Boston has since bought the 13,600-acre
resort for $115 million. Blixseth was accused of diverting hundreds of
millions of dollars for his own use.
Source
© Copyright 2012 by thebahamasweekly.com
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