Stafford Sands

Stafford Sands
Stafford Sands (left) and Hjalmar Schacht in October 1962
Minister of Finance of the Bahamas
In office 1964–1967
Succeeded by	Carlton Francis
Prime Minister	Sir Roland Symonette
Personal details
Born	23 September 1913 Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas
Died	23 January 1972 London, England
Political party	United Bahamian Party

Sir Stafford Lofthouse Sands (23 September 1913 – January 23, 1972) was a former Minister of Finance of the Bahamas (1964–1967),[1] who held other high positions in the islands until his self-chosen exile in 1967. Hailed as Father of Tourism, he succumbed to corruption, allowing organized crime to unfold activities like money laundering and to establish offshore banking on the Bahamas.

Early life and education

Stafford Lofthouse Sands was born in 1913 to Stafford Sands and Enid Rosalie Lofthouse. The elder Sands was founder of City Meat Markets after his stint with the Caribbean operations of the Bank of Canada.[2] The father of the elder Sands was Sir James Patrick Sands, who was also a businessman whom served as Member of the House of Assembly and Executive Council.

Sands was a lawyer before embarking his political career in 1937.

Career

Stafford Sands was a lawyer who, from 1946, represented Wallace Groves and other Americans who sought to establish casinos, resorts, free-trade areas, and other developments in the islands, primarily at Freeport on largely undeveloped Grand Bahama island.[3] Gambling was not allowed at the time, but through corruption there was a change in the law and the already built casino in the Lucayan Beach Hotel was legalized. Sands officially was the director of the casino, but others like Meyer Lansky, a Jewish mobster was the inofficial director. A key development was the introduction of the Eurodollar by which the mafia could transfer money from the US via the Bahamas to Europe.[3]

From 1958, when party politics began, Sands had a prominent role in the United Bahamian Party (UBP), which was in power until 1967. The 1967 Royal Commission of Inquiry reported that Sands and the UBP received large payments, represented by Groves as "consulting fees," from the casino interests.

Personal life and death

Sands permanently left the Bahama islands for exile in Spain, along with his considerable fortune. He died age 59.

Legacy

He is credited with being an architect of Bahamian post-war prosperity and has been dubbed the "Father of Tourism" in The Bahamas.[4] He allowed organized crime to unfold activities like money laundering and helped establish offshore banking on the Bahamas.[3]

His portrait appeared on the 10 Bahamian dollar note from 2001 until 2005, and again since 2010, while it was replaced by that of Queen Elizabeth II.

References

1. Bidwell, Robin (October 24, 2018). Guide to Government Ministers: The British Empire and Successor States 1900–1972. Routledge. ISBN 9781317792260 – via Google Books.
2. https://bahamianology.com/three-generations-of-sands-sir-james-mr-stafford-sir-stafford/
3. "Mafia und Banken (1/3) - Die Pionierzeit - Die ganze Doku". Arte (in German). 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
4. Simon, "Facts and Fiction About Diversification"^[usurped], Bahama Pundit, 9 August 2010.