Developer discharged in forgery case

Premier Alden McLaughlin and Lewis Ebanks (seated)

(CNS): A local developer who faced a forgery charge was cleared by the Grand Court this week ahead of a scheduled trial when the crown offered no evidence against him. Prosecutors told the court that the charges against Lewis Molson Ebanks should be discontinued because of difficulties the crown had locating witnesses but reserved the right to bring future proceedings should they find them.

The charges related to an incident some five years ago when Ebanks was accused of making a false document relating to a deposit on a property deal. He denied the allegation and entered a not guilty plea more than two years ago when he appeared in Grand Court in March 2015.

Just before he was charged, Ebanks, a Caymanian developer and investor, had broken ground on a US$200 million oceanfront development of luxury condos on the North Sound coast. It is not clear if the Gran Palazzo is still proceeding, as it was originally scheduled to be completed in 2016. The development had government support with a number of concessions and was billed as creating over 200 jobs and injecting millions of dollars into the local economy.

But last year Ebanks was also the subject of a lawsuit after AL Thompsons claimed he owed them $450,000 plus interest regarding a deal on building materials for another project dating back to 2003.