Turks & Caicos ex-premier trying to sell beachfront mansion amid corruption probe by UK

TC ex-premier trying to sell mansion amid UK probe

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — For sale: gated, beachfront mansion with glass-sided pool, wine and cigar room, full-floor servants’ quarters, secret stairway, and two spacious guest homes ringed by tropical gardens.

Michael Misick, the former premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, is trying to sell his 11,000-square-foot (1022 square meter) palatial estate in the British territory southeast of the Bahamas — and an advertisement pitching the property reads like a “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” fantasy.

But British investigators suspect that Misick — who resigned last year amid a corruption probe — may have built his luxurious retreat with ill-gotten gains.

Helen Garlick, a London-appointed special prosecutor for Turks and Caicos, is investigating the former premier and four other local officials who British legislators suspect had gotten rich by selling government-owned land to property developers. Widespread corruption claims against the territory’s leaders resulted in Britain imposing direct rule on its former colony in August.

Garlick and her team are doing investigative work in Turks and Caicos at the same time that New York-based Avalon Partners Ltd. is offering Misick’s “Villa Belview” estate for $15.75 million. In its Feb. 11 listing in Luxury Travel Magazine, the agency says “no expense has been spared” at the property.

“The special investigation and prosecution team is aware that Mr. Misick’s property is on the market but has no intention to let individuals who are under investigation dissipate assets which are believed to be proceeds of crime,” Garlick said in an e-mail.

Misick has denied any wrongdoing. His telephone numbers rang busy Monday, and he declined to respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

The office of the British governor, Gordon Wetherell, also declined comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

Before stepping down as premier in March 2009, Misick said his lavish lifestyle allowed him to court high-end developers and helped put the British territory on the map. Since he took office in 2003, the gross domestic product in the U.K. territory of 22,000 people more than doubled to $750 million — largely through a resort-building boom.

During hearings last year by a British investigative commission focusing on his government’s financial dealings, Misick denied abusing public funds but testified that he continued to collect sales commissions after being elected the islands’ leader. He described it as common practice for Caribbean leaders to receive sizable donations with no strings attached.

The islands’ London-appointed governor formed the commission after a British Parliament report found signs of rampant corruption on Turks and Caicos. The lead investigator, Robin Auld, said he had found “clear signs of political amorality and immaturity and general administrative incompetence” on the islands.

Garlick said her team, which includes investigators with years of experience probing major crime and corruption cases in the U.K. and other jurisdictions, has “established links” with law enforcement in the United States. She did not elaborate.

On the Net:

Luxury Travel Magazine’s Web page featuring Misick’s Turks and Caicos estate: www.luxurytravelmagazine.com/news-articles/turks-and-caicos-former-premier-offers-his-estate-for-sale-14530.php