Baha Mar founder gambled and lost casino

Sarkis Izmirilian conceived an integrated resort on Cable Beach with then and future Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie in the early years of this century. When global credit froze in 2008, a deal with China saved US$3.5 billion Baha Mar but doomed Izmirlian, whose gamble on bankruptcy cost him his $850 million investment in the largest hospitality project in the Caribbean. Baha Mar is due to begin opening next month, under ownership of Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes, editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

China holds cards in Bahamas’ largest casino project

The stalled US$3.5 billion Baha Mar casino resort has a Chinese suitor after Beijing money pushed the original owner out.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes, editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

Bahamas casino flounders with China’s help

China hopes to combine huge currency reserves and burgeoning overseas travel to extend its global soft power. The Bahamas’ $3.5 billion Baha Mar casino project shows the dangers of having Beijing for a partner for commercial projects.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.