Latest update February 7th, 2025 2:57 PM
Sep 29, 2015 News
Winston Brassington, the Executive Director of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) has in fact spent more money from the NICIL coffers on the Marriott Hotel than was previously disclosed.
In the process, he has misrepresented the overall project cost by more than US$25M.
Information now coming to light has revealed that while Atlantic Hotel Inc (AHI)—the special purpose company established to build and own the Marriott Hotel has expended some US$56M on the project to date, NICIL was in fact spending additional monies on the project, monies it never publicly disclosed.
This publication has unearthed information suggesting that Brassington authorized the expenditure of in excess of US$5M on the Marriott project, separate and distinct from AHI’s expenditure.
To make matters worse, the monies are not represented as ‘recoverable’, it will never be repaid to NICIL by AHI, as is the case with other amounts put into the project.
This publication has learnt that NICIL and not AHI—the Marriott owners—was the entity that paid for the road works surrounding the controversial project.
Additionally, Brassington used from NICIL coffers, money to pay to HVS Consulting and Valuation for a Feasibility Study for the project.
HVS submitted its document, costing in excess of US$2M to AHI, despite the fact that NICIL paid for the study.
Brassington also utilized monies directly out of the NICIL coffers to pay for the sinking of a well to supply the internationally branded hotel with water.
Additional spending incurred by NICIL on the project and never represented in the AHI Financials, also went to a consultancy firm which supervised the construction works by the Chinese Contractor.
Another glaring revelation regarding transactions for the Hotel centered on the prime ocean front property which NICIL, headed by Brassington sold to AHI, which was also at the time headed by Brassington.
AHI paid US$1M (G$200M) for the almost 10 acres of land but independent property evaluators have since valued the property to be worth almost US$5M (G$1B).
Kaieteur News has since consulted with a number of financial experts that have labeled Brassington’s disclosures on monies spent on the project as ‘deliberate deception.’
According to AHI’s records, US$56M was spent on the project to bring it to the stage it is currently at but consolidating the NICIL’s expenditure, would in fact bring the total cost of the project to almost US$100M—this, not counting concessions and tax holiday’s granted to AHI.
Disaggregating the disclosed US$56M reveals that Republic Bank loaned some US$15.25M to AHI as a Syndicated Loan, while all of the remaining disclosed amounts totaling US$40.75M came directly from NICIL to AHI.
This is separate and distinct from monies NICIL spent on the project but were not represented in the AHI accounts.
NICIL had originally given AHI a US$15.4M loan, interest free and to be repaid only when “cash flow enables.”
Additionally, NICIL also invested US$4M and had approached Republic Bank Trinidad to put together a consortium of investors to put in another US$27M.
Court action was however filed preventing the release of the full amount of US$27M.
Republic Bank managed to transfer only US$15.25M and this resulted in NICIL putting in an additional US$21M.
To compound matters, the Hotel is still a far way from being completed with the Casino and Entertainment Complex—critical to the hotel’s revenue stream and financial viability—still to be constructed.
This section of the hotel would require an additional US$16M, the source of which is yet to be disclosed.
As such the construction cost would be stated US$56M spent to date; US$16M for the Casino and Entertainment Complex when that comes on street; the US$2.7 spent on rerouting the sewerage; interest waived by NICIL is US$3 million; US$2.1 for project design; NICIL spent on the project but was never represented in AHI financials; US$4M lost through the sale of the land to AHI by NICIL; US$21.35M in additional financing from NICIL; concessions granted and the still to be tabulated interest owed to republic bank that accrued during the construction of the hotel.
Feb 07, 2025
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