Good day memebers of the media, please see below for release. Thank you.
Recent news on the Government’s appointment of Alexia Hefti as a Middle East advisor raises several questions, which have created concerns among the Bermudian public. We in the One Bermuda Alliance share those concerns.
First of all, we are concerned that Ms. Hefti will not be able to properly dedicate herself to this incredibly high-paying post, given her many existing commitments. For example, according to her social media profile Ms. Hefti currently serves as the full-time CEO of a company called eGovern. She is also the interim CEO of the Metaverse Economic Zone, and the Executive Chairman of the Abed Group in Barbados.
Given these three other demanding posts, we seriously doubt Bermuda will receive anything like $240,000 of Ms. Hefti’s time during her one-year contract.
Secondly, and more importantly, we have serious concerns about how Ms. Hefti was selected for this position.
We know that in 2018 the Premier appointed Gabriel Abed as his FinTech advisor. Mr. Abed is Chairman of the Abed Group, a self-described family office, where Ms. Hefti is also the Executive Chairman, as well as Mr. Abed’s partner.
We also know that in September 2020 Mr. Abed proclaimed a $9,619 donation in BitCoin to the Progressive Labour Party, via Twitter.
Could this donation have influenced the selection process for this consultant?
We call on the Premier to tell the Bermudian public how many other candidates were considered for this position, were any of them Bermudian, and what criteria were used to select Ms. Hefti.
To restore the trust of the Bermudian public, we also call on the Premier and Progressive Labour Party to inform the public if they have received any other donations from Mr. Abed or Ms. Hefti, or any other consultants that have been engaged, whether directly or indirectly.
We look forward to them clearing the air.