Yesterday morning we released Part 2 of this story titled “Gambling with Customer Deposits by Making ‘Loans’ to the Bankrupt Wens, Corporate Corpses and More”
Based on the Premier’s press conference on Monday June 23, 2025, and further research, we are now prepared to report on the movements of the people’s five million dollars in and out of the Bank of Asia. We have the underlying documents to support our reporting and will be sharing those with the rest of the media community in due course.
In our first major story titled ‘Possible Cover Up in Bank of Asia Demise, Bank Mishandled? Can It Still Be Saved?’ which was published on June 4, 2025, we quoted the following from a source as it relates to the discovery of $5 million dollars of Government funds being deposited on the Bank of Asia this year:-
‘However, it is alleged that the instructions to deposit the $5 million dollars to the Bank of Asia was given directly by Honourable Lorna Smith, then Minister of Financial Services and Banking, to the Accountant General. We understand that it was alleged to have been done at a period while she was Acting Premier and the Premier was out of the Territory.’
https://www.gbmediahouse.com/Articles/Article/3756/Possible-Cover-Up-in-Bank-of-Asia-Demise-Bank-Mishandled-Can-It-Still-Be-Saved
By June 6, Junior Minister Lorna Smith had released a statement denying the suggestion.
The Premier in a statement at his press conference on Monday June 23, denied the Junior Minister had issued the instructions to have the money transferred. For reasons we will detail, Junior Minister Smith had a clear duty to inform the Premier and others that money should NEVER be placed with Bank of Asia until its financial condition improved. It strongly appears that she never did that and is therefore deeply complicit in the recent $5 million deposit decision and must be held directly accountable for any losses that the Government suffers as a result.
Confusion - Five Million Deposited On Bank of Asia Twice
Our initial article of June 4, 2025, reported the $5 million being transferred in 2023, however, due to the line of questioning by the Opposition Leader during a HOA session, and information coming out thereafter, it appeared there was only one deposit made. After much query and research however, we were able to put the pieces together. Suspicion obviously arises when such simple questions are not answered.
A key indicator in pushing us to look deeper, was a statement the Premier made during his press conference on June 23, while answering on the date of when the monies were put on the bank. He indicated using the term ‘yes, that $5 million’, prompting GBM to believe that there may have been other monies involved. Our hunch was indeed correct.
Further research later that night, turned up Official documentation confirming that $5 million dollars of Government’s money was deposited on the Bank of Asia on two separate occasions.
Deposit #1 and the Freezing Injunction
In early August 2023, $5 million dollars was indeed deposited on a newly created bank account by the Government at Bank of Asia. It was then put into a three (3) month certificate of deposit (CD)which matured on November 8th 2023, and yielded approximately $31,250 in interest (a rate of 2.5% per year). We know this because Bank of Asia’s quarterly records never show any Government money on deposit before this, and the bank’s September 30th 2023 deposit maturity schedule lists the $5 million in the ‘1 month - 3 month’ category. Upon the three-month CD’s maturity, the $5 million dollars was immediately removed, as it didn’t appear on the books of the bank in the next quarter (4th quarter of 2023). However, it would seem that the interest earned on the 3-month CD stayed in the bank, as at December 2024 the then amount on the account was $35,947.
For perspective, elections in the territory were held on Monday April 24, 2023. A new Government was formed the following day Tuesday April 25, and sworn in on April 26th, thanks to newly elected At Large Representative Lorna Smith OBE electing to join the VIP Government, giving them the majority, and taking on the role of Deputy Premier and the portfolios of Financial Services, Banking, Trade and Labour. It would have taken the Government some time after the elections to get all of the paperwork filed with the bank for an account. And then during Festival 2023, when all of the Government was dancing and having a great time at the taxpayers’ expense, the 3-month $5 million CD was purchased.
As a reminder, the founders of the bank were still locked in a legal battle at this time, with then Deputy Premier Smith’s long-time friend, Mr Carson Wen, losing and losing badly every time. Importantly, the purchase of the $5 million CD happened right before the worldwide freezing injunction was ordered by the Court against Mr Wen, his wife, and the 44% shareholder in Bank of Asia (Sancus Financial).
Was the reason that the money was taken out in November 2023 because the freezing injunction was then in place? It is quite possible, because Deputy Premier Smith’s nephew, bank director Deon Vanterpool, filed an affidavit in the legal proceedings related to the freezing injunction right around the CD’s maturity date. So, Deon Vanterpool obviously knew of the freezing injunction, and almost surely would have told his auntie about it if she did not already know directly from her close friend Mr Wen. We also know that the bank would not have been in compliance with regulators at the time, having not filed audited financials.
Deposit #2 – The Visit to Hong Kong and the Bankruptcies
Sometime between January 1 and April 30 2025, another deposit of $5 million was made, for a second time, onto the Bank of Asia account. Despite numerous requests, the Premier has been unwilling to confirm exactly when this deposit was made, and further, denied knowing any information about the deposit. The Premier even went as far as concealing information that two deposits were made.
We have reason to believe that the second deposit was made after the mission to Hong Kong in February 2025 attended by the Premier, the Honourable Smith and the Honourable Penn. The Honourable Smith became Junior Minister a short time later. This would mean that the only two deposits in the bank were made with Smith OBE was in a position of real power. Also of particular note, now Junior Minister’s attendance in meetings in Hong Kong occurred right after Mr Wen and his wife were declared bankrupt by the Court. Sources have told us that a long meeting was held with Mr Wen during the trip. Is this why the Premier is refusing to answer the simple question on timing of the $5 million deposit, the natural inference being that they are linked?
Government Money Used In Loans to Preferred Equity Capital Boosting Scheme?
Based on highly credible sources, we now understand that sometime in 2024 Bank of Asia was told by regulators that it was no longer able to take ANY customer deposits until its status improved (which it did not). The bank obviously ignored those orders and continued to take customer deposits, including the Government’s $5 million. That is a very serious violation to say the least. Deon Vanterpool, as head of the bank, would have been front and centre in ignoring this order, and it would be shocking to learn that he did not tell his auntie about the deposit-taking freeze.
At the press conference this last Monday, the Premier refused to answer a direct question put to him by this media house as to whether the $5 million was used in the loans to equity scheme we detailed in Part 2 of this series. If so, the result would have been a boost to the bank’s equity capital. But in any case, the Government was putting money on Bank of Asia when at least Junior Minister Smith, having clear oversight of the FSC, would have known that Bank of Asia was forbidden from taking ANY deposits.
Premier’s Implausible Explanation for the Deposit – to Earn Interest
The Premier has said the reason why the $5 million deposit was made at the bank, despite clear red flags everywhere, was to earn some interest on its money. The bank’s website continues to show the rates a depositor can earn on CDs. A 3-month CD earns 2.4% a year, meaning the very risky $5 million deposit would earn the Government only $30k. Now, nearly all of the $5 million appears lost unless the bank can be sold, which would mean no depositor losses at all.
But let’s test the Premier’s reasoning for the Government placing $5 million with Bank of Asia to show that it falls flat. The yield on a 3-month US treasury bill was nearly double the rate at the bank, and obviously the risk on a US treasury bill is next to nothing. So, if the reason is to earn a financial return, why not earn double on a far safer investment? The exact same analysis would hold true for the first deposit, a time when 3-month US treasury bills were offering yields much more than double the bank. A much more common-sense explanation for the most recent deposit is that it had nothing to do with earning a tiny amount of interest when far more could have been earned elsewhere.
Junior Minister Smith’s Proximity to the Deposits and Duty to Disclose What She Knew
The Premier has said that he had no knowledge of the most recent deposit. He has also said Junior Minister Smith did not order the deposit. It seems that they are both intent on laying blame on subordinates rather than taking any accountability.
But Junior Minister Smith knew this at the least:
First, she has been well in the know of the freezing injunction and the bankruptcies of Mr Wen and his wife.
Second, she was at the helm of the bank (as a board member then Chairman) during the invoices corporate fraud and loans-to-equity schemes detailed in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.
And third, she must have been well aware of the block placed on the bank taking any deposits, particularly given her direct oversight of the FSC.
Did she not inform the Premier of all of this? She must have had a duty to do so. With the evidence now before all of us, whether she directed the $5 million herself in 2025 is a sideshow. Most certainly she should have told others that a deposit of this sort could NEVER be made. But yet it was. If blame is to be placed, and the Premier has his own accountability, it must start with Junior Minister Smith for her failure to speak up to prevent ANY deposit. She didn’t, and this whole mess now falls at her feet.
Much more to come on the Bank of Asia matter…