Sarkis Izmirlian (center), then CEO of Baha Mar Resorts, poses in happier times the with state-owned Export-Import Bank of China President Li Ruogu (left) and Bahama’s Deputy Prime Minister, Brent Symonette, at the resort’s 2011 groundbreaking ceremony. (Image: Tim Aylen\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSarkis Izmirlian was the original developer and an $845 million investor in the resort — billed as the biggest leisure development in the history of the Caribbean — which is now almost completely owned by Hong Kong-based business empire Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE).<\/p>\n
Izmirlian — the son of Swiss-Armenian peanut tycoon Dikran Izmirlian — alleges that China Construction America (CCA), the Chinese contractor that ultimately built the project, elbowed him out and sent his company, BML Properties, to the brink of bankruptcy before CCA sold the venture to the Hong Kong outfit in 2016.<\/p>\n
Izmirlian\u2019s lawsuit claims he is the victim of \u201cone of the largest construction-based frauds in this hemisphere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vegas on Sea <\/strong><\/h2>\nBaha Mar finally opened in May 2017 after years of delays. The resort was conceived in 2005 as \u201cVegas by the sea\u201d but it was dreamed up in a different economic climate. This was the era of the highly leveraged multibillion-dollar megaresort, before the Great Recession put paid to many grand ideas.<\/p>\n
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Izmirlian\u2019s original development partner got cold feet and bailed on the project in 2008 as the recession started to bite. Enter ExIm \u2013 otherwise known as the Export Import Bank of China — which stepped in to rescue the Baha Mar with a $2.45 billion loan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The deal was signed off by the Chinese government and it installed the China State Construction Engineering Corp — or more accurately its US subsidiary, CCA — as the controlling shareholder and the contractor tasked with finishing the job.<\/p>\n
The new target for completion was to be late 2014, but the lawsuit alleges CCA had no intention of completing the project on time and on budget.<\/p>\n