CaribPR Wire

MUMBAI, India, Feb. 24, 2016 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ –Batelco Group (Ticker: BATELCO ), the international Telecommunications Group with operations across 14 countries, has successfully obtained Indian freezing orders from the Madras High Court against certain Indian assets of Chinnakannan Sivasankaran (Mr Siva) and his related parties namely: his ex-wife Mrs Jayalakshmi Sivasankaran, his father R.C.K. Vallal, his mother Chinnakannan Chandrammal, his long-term associates Baskaran, Nithyavathi Venkatesan and his related company, Siva Limited. The value of the assets frozen by such orders is estimated to be approximately 500 Crore (US$ 74 million).

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The orders that have been made by the Madras High Court are intended to pay down a substantial UK judgment that was awarded to BMIC Limited (a fully owned subsidiary of Batelco) by the English High Court of Justice totaling US$ 212 million in June 2014 (the UK Judgement). The UK Judgement was awarded against Mr Siva and Siva Limited, following BMIC’s successful litigation against them (the defendants). The UK Judgment found that the defendants failed to honour a Settlement Agreement signed with BMIC in November 2011, relating to a commercial venture into which such parties had entered in 2009. According to the UK Judgment, full payment should have been made to BMIC by the defendants by 26 June 2014. To date the defendants have failed to pay such sum to BMIC.

Ihab Hannawi, Group CEO of Batelco said:

“We fully expect all of the respondents to honour the Indian Court Orders and pay to BMIC the monies owing to it under the UK judgement. We will pursue all legal avenues available to us against such parties to secure this outstanding payment.”

[BMIC acquired a 42.7% stake of Indian registered S Tel in 2009. S Tel had been awarded a 2G Licence in 2008. Following the cancelation of 2G licences by India's Supreme Court in February 2012, BMIC sought to implement an agreed put option which under certain circumstances, such as the cancelation of its 2G licence, or in the event of a failure of Siva to secure financing, would ensure Siva bought back the shares acquired by BMIC at the price paid originally. BMIC and the defendants entered into the binding Settlement Agreement to give effect to this commitment which contained a promise by Mr Sivasankaran and Siva Limited to make payment to BMIC in agreed circumstances.]

CONTACT: Rethu Menon, Consultant, FTI Consulting India, [email protected], +91-986-718-1043, Amrit Singh Deo, Senior Director, FTI Consulting India, [email protected], +91-916-742-8242

NASSAU, Bahamas, Aug. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Baha Mar today stated it is gratified that the Supreme Court of The Bahamas has granted leave to appeal the Court’s decision to reject Baha Mar’s application seeking the recognition of the U.S. Chapter 11 proceedings in the Delaware Court.

About Baha Mar

Baha Mar is set on 3,000 feet of white sandy beach just 10 minutes from Nassau’s fully renovated and expanded international airport.  It will feature elite hotels with gaming, entertainment, private residences, shopping and natural attractions that reflect an authentic Bahamian experience. Amenities will include a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course; 200,000 square feet of flexible convention facilities, including a 2,000-seat entertainment venue; art galleries featuring Bahamian art; more than 40 restaurants, bars and clubs; global luxury designer and local artisan boutiques; and 20 acres of exquisitely landscaped beach and pool experiences, including a beachfront sanctuary with native Bahamian flora and fauna. For more information during this process please visit www.bmpathforward.com.

Media Contact

Kekst and Company
Jeremy Fielding/Stef Goodsell/Ross Lovern
[email protected]
+1 (212) 521-4806

MIAMI, May 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ – Expatriate Venezuelan billionaire Nelson J. Mezerhane’s attempt to sue his government and the Venezuelan equivalent of the FDIC in U.S. courts for alleged illegal expropriations has again been turned back, this time by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The May 7, 2015, decision affirms the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida’s earlier dismissal of Mezerhane’s lawsuit claiming that the government of Venezuela its agencies, including Fondo de Proteccion Social de los Depositos Bancarios (FOGADE) (Venezuela’s equivalent of the FDIC), had expropriated his property in violation of international law. The appellate court agreed that the district court lacked jurisdiction to resolve the dispute under the expropriation exception of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).

FOGADE’s attorneys, Diaz, Reus & Targ, LLP, had successfully argued for dismissal in the district court by pointing out that the facts as alleged by Mezerhane did not show a violation of international law – a requirement under the FSIA’s expropriation exception. Both the district court and the Eleventh Circuit agreed that the FSIA does not contemplate entertaining lawsuits between foreign citizens and their governments concerning property that is within the foreign government’s jurisdiction.

“The law is very clear. U.S. Courts cannot tell foreign sovereigns how to treat their own citizens,” said Diaz Reus partner Marta Colomar Garcia, representing FOGADE. “The facts here are obvious. Venezuela and its agencies were entitled to sovereign immunity because the events alleged by Mr. Mezerhane occurred in Venezuela, where he was a citizen.”

Diaz Reus partner Brant Hadaway added, “The courts of the United States recognize that issues revolving around the conduct of foreign sovereigns towards their own citizens is a matter that our Constitution’s Framers reserved to the political branches of government – Congress and the President. To hold otherwise would open the door not only to foreign citizens bringing their grievances against their governments in the U.S., but potentially to American citizens bringing claims against the U.S. government, or the government of one or more of the 50 States, in a foreign court.”

About Diaz Reus

Diaz, Reus & Targ, LLP (Diaz Reus) is a full-service, entrepreneurial international law firm offering comprehensive legal services to U.S.-based and international clients around the world. The firm’s global reach extends from its Miami, Fla., headquarters to its international offices, strategically located throughout Latin America, the Middle East, and in Asia and Europe. For more information, visit www.diazreus.com

Media Contact:
Jayne Navarre, Diaz Reus
[email protected]
P: 305-375-9220

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MIAMI, May 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ – Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal rejected Miami-based Davos Financial Group CEO David Osio’s efforts to immunize several of the Davos Group’s companies from jurisdiction in a lawsuit filed by former Davos partners Rodrigo Fernandez and Andres Sotillo.

The appellate court’s April 29 ruling upholds a trial court’s earlier denial of Davos’ motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in Florida, allowing international bankers Fernandez and Sotillo to proceed with their 2011 fraud lawsuit against Osio and the Davos Group. Fernandez and Sotillo were ousted from a partnership interest in Davos in 2010 when they learned of a number of improper actions that Osio had taken.

Osio tried to deflect responsibility to his mother, Isabel Cecilia Montiel de Osio, claiming that the partnership assets were part of an offshore trust that was set up to benefit her. He alleged that she had loaned money to various Davos Group financial services companies but was unable to specify to which companies and in what amounts.

Several Davos companies moved to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that they were exclusively foreign and had no contacts with the State of Florida.  However, evidence discovered and shown to the trial court proved that all the entities were controlled and directed from Miami. Osio himself testified that he controlled the trust and its constituent entities and that he could do whatever he wanted with the companies and their assets, including granting himself a loan to purchase a luxury apartment in Paris.

“The evidence in the record overwhelmingly showed that the offshore entities in the Davos Group were foreign in name only,” said Diaz Reus partner Brant Hadaway, who argued the case in both the trial and appellate courts. “Osio, his group comptroller and others orchestrated everything from an office in Coconut Grove, right across the street from Miami City Hall.  These companies are no more ‘foreign’ than I am.”

Diaz Reus partner Gary Davidson added, “One of the companies is an Antigua bank that first came to court saying, under oath, that it did no business in Florida. But that turned out to be completely untrue – the bank had millions of dollars in mortgages on South Florida real estate, despite not having registered to do business in Florida, and every key decision was made from Miami.”

“It was incredible,” said Hadaway. “As a witness for the bank, they produced an employee from Antigua who had no idea what was going on.  She didn’t even know who the bank’s customers were.  And of course she didn’t know; she was in Antigua.  The decisions were being made here, in Miami.”

“The fact that the appellate court affirmed without an opinion strongly indicates that the panel saw this as an open and shut case,” said Hadaway. “The next step will be to depose Mr. Osio’s mother, who is also a defendant in the case. A motion to compel her deposition has been filed.”

About Diaz Reus
Diaz, Reus & Targ, LLP (Diaz Reus) is a full-service, entrepreneurial international law firm offering comprehensive legal services to U.S.-based and international clients around the world. The firm’s global reach extends from its Miami, Fla., headquarters to its international offices, strategically located throughout Latin America, the Middle East, and in Asia and Europe. For more information, visit www.diazreus.com

MEDIA CONTACT: Jayne Navarre | [email protected] | 305-375-9220