A legal battle that began in July 2015 after the developer of the nearly completed $3.5 billion Baha Mar resort development filed for bankruptcy protection and contractor China Construction Corp. soon after sued to take over the property. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
On November 26, both sides announced a settlement of the long-running dispute. Sarkis Izmirlian, president of BML Properties Ltd., the original developer of the Nassau, Bahamas, tourism project, said in a statement: “We are pleased to have put this matter behind us and to have reached a resolution that meets our expectations.”
Yan Wei, president and CEO of CCA, formerly known as China Construction America, commented similarly in a company statement. “We are pleased to have successfully resolved this matter and to move forward with clarity and certainty for our employees, customers and partners,” he said. “While we are convinced of the strength of our legal arguments, closing this matter is in the best interest of our stakeholders.”
In October 2024, a New York state court judge had awarded BML Properties $1.6 billion, ruling that a board member of China State Construction Engineering Co. Bahamas had “committed at least four instances of fraud” and that the company had induced the developer’s financial collapse through fraud and misrepresentation.
The New York state judge was unconvinced by CCA’s counterarguments in court, instead finding that the contractor intended to “cause a liquidity crisis that drove [the developer] of its $845 million investment,” adding, “That’s exactly what happened.”
BML argued, and the judge agreed, that the bankruptcy was brought about in part by a $54 million payment from the developer to contractor CCA Bahamas as the project neared completion.
In December 2024, CCA filed for Chapter 11 and in April lost an appeal of the New York state court ruling.
