MIAMI – The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda rigged a $6 million kickback for himself by agreeing to a severe cut in the sales price of the illegally-seized superyacht Alfa Nero, according to new information cited by the vessel’s former owner.
The news comes just days before snap elections are held on the island – elections called by Prime Minister Gaston Browne himself.
“Prime Minister Browne personally handled the negotiation over both the sale and its artificially low price,” attorneys for Yulia Guryeva Motlokhov told the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on April 25.
New evidence has moved the case forward against Browne, whose government seized the yacht in 2024 and sold it under circumstances that remain suspicious.
That evidence includes emails from a yacht brokerage company executive who reported “an intense 4 days of negotiation with the prime minister and the client” to settle the sale.
This was followed by an internal message describing the $40 million sale price as “One hell of a deal. Best deal of the century. Ridiculous.”
“A former senior Antiguan official who served directly under Browne … attested, based on personal knowledge, that Browne solicited and received a US$6 million payment in exchange for reducing the Vessel’s sale price,” according to the document.
The yacht was appraised at between $60 million for a forced sale, and $105 million, but sold for $40 million.
Other inside emails appear to show that a senior Antigua and Barbuda diplomat instructed the broker to write certain language to cover up suspicious parts of the sale.
A former Browne official “indicated that the kickback was ultimately paid to an Antiguan attorney – who is known to act as one of Browne’s personal lawyers – and disguised as ‘consulting fees,’” the memorandum says.
Documentary evidence in the new filing further shows that the sale and purchase agreement extended Antiguan citizenship and passports as part of the deal for the buyer, his wife, and son.
The passport scheme underscores U.S. concerns about the integrity of Antigua and Barbuda passports to foreign nationals. Lax standards and corruption in the country’s Citizenship by Investment program caused the Trump administration to restrict visas to Antigua and Barbuda passport holders until the host government brought the program back to world standards.
Martin De Luca is the lead attorney on the Boies Schiller Flexner team representing the plaintiff in the case. The plaintiff seeks supplemental discovery from Florida yacht brokers and others for use in active proceedings abroad. The case number is 25-CV-21129.
Browne has vigorously asserted his innocence and has filed defamation charges against de Luca and Boies Schiller Flexner in Antigua and Barbuda.
