Sir Stafford Lofthouse Sands (23 September 1913 – January 23, 1972) was a former Minister of Finance of the Bahamas (1964–1967), who held other high positions in the islands until his self-chosen exile in 1967. Hailed as Father of Tourism, he succumbed to corruption, allowing organized crime to unfold activities like money laundering and to establish offshore banking on the Bahamas.
Early life and education
Stafford Lofthouse Sands was born in 1913 to Stafford Sands and Enid Rosalie Lofthouse. The elder Sands was founder of City Meat Markets after his stint with the Caribbean operations of the Bank of Canada. Sands was the grandson of Sir James Patrick Sands,
Career
Sands was admitted to the bar in 1935.
From 1946, he represented Wallace Groves and other Americans who sought to establish casinos, resorts, free-trade areas, and other developments in the islands, primarily at Freeport on largely undeveloped Grand Bahama island. Gambling was not allowed at the time, but through corruption there was a change in the law and the already built casino in the Lucayan Beach Hotel was legalized. Sands officially was the director of the casino, but others like Meyer Lansky, a Jewish mobster was the unofficial director. A key development was the introduction of the Eurodollar by which the mafia could transfer money from the US via the Bahamas to Europe.
Personal life and death
Sands permanently left the Bahama islands for exile in Spain, He allowed organized crime to unfold activities like money laundering and helped establish offshore banking on the Bahamas.