BML Properties wins $1.6 billion verdict in Baha Mar lawsuit

Sarkis Izmirlian’s BML Properties won a $1.6 billion judgment against China’s largest construction group, with the decision describing the contractor’s actions as a “scam and a shakedown” of Izmirlian.

The ruling against China Construction America, the U.S. arm of state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corporation, found the construction group defrauded BML Properties in the development of Baha Mar, the multibillion-dollar resort in the Bahamas, according to a press release. The decision described CCA’s actions as a “sham and shakedown” that resulted in Izmirlian’s loss of the $845 million BML invested in the project.

Baha Mar is a 1,000-acre resort on the Bahamian island of New Providence. It has three hotels with 2,300 keys, 284 residences, a casino, a spa and a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus, according to published reports. The resort also has 45 restaurants, 10 swimming pools, luxury shopping and a water park.

Izmirlian’s redevelopment of Baha Mar was slated for a 2015 opening, a deadline CCA sabotaged with the intention of sending the developer into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the release shows. The almost finished resort was empty, Bloomberg reported.

In the aftermath of the bankruptcy, Hong Kong billionaire Henry Cheng’s Chow Tai Fook Enterprises bought the resort for an undisclosed amount and opened the resort in 2017. Cheng also owns New World Development, which owns the Rosewood Hotel Group.

“We intend to proceed with the execution of the judgment in an equally thoughtful and prudent manner,” Izmirlian said in the press release.