The Virgin Islands government is banking on a planned asset sale to recover $5 million in public funds deposited with Bank of Asia (VI) Limited in January 2025, Premier Natalio Wheatley told the House of Assembly on October 21, 2026.
Then-Accountant General Arnold Ainsley placed the deposit on January 22, 2025, without obtaining the statutory approval mandated by the Public Finance Management Act, the Premier explained. Wheatley learned of the transaction only weeks before regulators moved to wind down the bank in May 2025.
The bank entered active liquidation after the BVI Financial Services Commission and the Virgin Islands Deposit Insurance Corporation raised concerns about its financial health. On May 28, 2025, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court named joint provisional liquidators to oversee a court-managed wind-down designed to protect depositors and safeguard the territory's banking system.
Liquidators signed an Asset Sale Agreement with SWB LLC in November 2025 covering certain bank assets and property. The VI High Court authorised the sale on July 23, 2026, though some agreement terms remained unfinished when Wheatley addressed the House.
The Premier confirmed the government's account at the bank is no longer operational. He said the administration continues to pursue the $5 million through the liquidation process and that "there's nothing to report" on any remaining balance.
Wheatley added that the Auditor General's final report had not yet reached Cabinet but would be shared with lawmakers once available. He noted he had commissioned an internal audit and accepted the Auditor General's recommendations, which may lead to referral to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Opposition legislator Myron Walwyn has contended that an unauthorised use of public money warrants accountability. Wheatley countered that disciplinary matters involving civil servants fall under the constitutional authority of the Governor, not the Finance Minister.
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first.