Grand Bahama
Water World Enterprises Ltd forced to close operation
By Peter von Albedyhll
Mar 14, 2010 - 5:28:02 PM

Freeport, Grand Bahama - Due to a recent substantial supreme court judgment against Water World Enterprises Ltd., the local operator of the Bowling alley on East Sunrise Blvd. was forced to close its operation to prevent further losses.

 In January 2009 Mr. Peter von Albedyhll came to an agreement with the Royal Bank  of Canada to assume an unpaid loan balance of Water World Enterprises Ltd. in order to prevent foreclose and subsequent closure of the bowling operation and to further secure his own personal loans he had granted Mr. David Willard – the previous operator of Water World – to build the bowling alley and to secure in the property.

This agreement was subject to Mr. Willard revealing all open debt of the company prior to Mr. von Albedyhll paying off all company debts including – among many others - about $ 30,000 in unpaid National insurance deductions since 2005  which were collected by Mr. Willard, but never paid to the National Insurance Board.

After assuming the operation it also became clear that Mr. Willard also had not provided accurate prior operating cost data as the operation was never able to operate profitably and required monthly cash infusions from Mr. von Albedyhll in order to meet its payroll. In addition, the high cost of energy did not allow the operation to be profitable, since as much as 40% of the income had to be paid towards utilities.

 In late February,  Water World Enterprises Ltd. was served with a court order for about $ 200,000, payable to an American lender who had personally loaned Mr. & Mrs. Willard an amount of $ 247,000 back in 2003 - whereby the Willard’s signed for this loan on behalf of Water World Enterprises Ltd.  Since the Willard’s failed to pay back the majority of the loan, the lender subsequently obtained a court order against Water World Enterprises Ltd.   as being the borrower of record.

Upon learning of this company liability, Mr. von Albedyhll filed fraud charges against Mr. David Willard for knowingly not disclosing this liability and possibly others - not yet known.

As a result , Mr. von Albedyhll – on advice of counsel – is now forced to liquidate the company, as he is not willing to assume further undisclosed liabilities of Mr. & Mrs. Willard in addition to the operating losses.

There are currently negotiations with other potential investors to purchase the facilities and re-open the center under new management in a short period of time.