“There’s something almost eerie about that number. Ten million. It keeps surfacing in our headlines like a ghost we can’t shake. Always involved in some scandal. Always wrapped in silence,” MP Algernon Watts writes.
“And again, we’re on the international stage—not for our beauty or brilliance, but because transparency seems allergic to our institutions. It’s as if we’ve developed a national talent for turning financial transactions into drama,” says Watts, in Part II of his “When Silence Speaks” series for the Antigua Observer.
This time it isn’t about Alfa Nero. It’s about Canadian investor Jack Stroll. “He deposited US$10 million into Global Bank of Commerce—a licensed financial institution. Years later, he’s still waiting. Still asking.”
“When the bank couldn’t repay him, they handed over two government Treasury bills as collateral. That, we were told, was supposed to solve the problem,” Watts writes.
“It didn’t. Now, those Treasury bills are caught in a legal snarl. And Jack is caught in a silence that raises more questions than answers. This week, he’s back in court.”
These are not ceremonial hearings. They are about enforcement, accountability, and whether our systems uphold the law when powerful interests are involved.
Betrayal. Disrespect.
“This story cuts deep because it’s not just about the amount. It’s about the betrayal. The delay. The insult of silence when you’re owed. And in Antigua, that kind of disrespect doesn’t sit well with anyone.”
“Because it’s not just about the amount—it’s about the silence. The shrug. The stonewalling.”
