ABL Managing Director Submits Affidavit in Stake Bank Lawsuit

On Monday night, we led our newscast with a story involving a lawsuit brought against businessman Mike Feinstein and Stake Bank Enterprise Limited.  Tonight, we take a closer look at a sworn statement provided to the High Court on April nineteenth.  The Government of Belize and businessman Michael Feinstein entered into a Definitive Agreement to facilitate the development and operation of Stake Bank Island as a cruise ship docking facility in August 2017.  A year later, in his capacity as Director of Stake Bank Enterprise Limited, Feinstein approached the Atlantic Bank seeking an extension of bridge financing to Stake Bank Enterprise Limited in the sum of twenty million dollars.  In an affidavit from Gregory Maheia, the managing director of Atlantic Bank, he says that Feinstein, in providing details of the project, informed the bank that the island was too small and, thus, intended to extend the island by dredging and reclaiming roughly twenty-four acres of seabed.  On September twentieth, 2018, the Atlantic Bank provided a loan of twenty million dollars to SBEL and, along with a facility letter, Feinstein was furnished with a draft of the Mortgage Debenture for his execution.  The debenture was reportedly signed by Feinstein in his capacity as director of Stake Bank Enterprise Limited, however, the document remained undated and in the custody of Atlantic Bank’s lawyer because Feinstein reportedly did not wish to pay any stamp duty.  Instead, he insisted that the debenture was the beneficiary of SBEL’s exemption under the act and the bank was awaiting the First Registration Title for Minister’s Fiat Grant Number 699 of 2004 and 609 of 2006 which were still registered in Feinstein’s name.