Dwain Carbon and his wife Josefina “Arony” Nunez Carbon (left) settled early 2022 in Windermere, Florida, where both their companies, Carbon Acquisition Group and Glamor by Arony, are registered in suite 120-422 in this building.
PHILIPSBURG--“The important question is: Can you afford to lose your investment?” Peter Azille, who calls Dwain Carbon his nephew, posed this question on behalf of Carbon Acquisition Group (CAG) to distraught clients, warning them not to take action against the developer.
In the letter, dated December 14, 2022, Azille stated he ordered to halt monthly reimbursements of US $500 to an investor who dared to suggest Carbon should return to St. Maarten to stand trial.
“Over the past two days, I have listened to and read information circulating from one of CAG’s Clients, urging you to take action to have Dwain extradited from the USA,” Azille stated in the letter, warning clients who stand to lose 5 or 6-figure investments made: “It is instructive for you to examine the true intention of this individual and weigh what you stand to lose vs what she stands to lose. She might very well be able to trade what she has in the project for the harm that satisfies her evil intentions to punish Dwain. Her objective seems to be to have the head of a Black Man and will find allies where they can be found to help her achieve this end. The important question is: Can you afford to lose your investment?”
Azille was referring to an American woman who, together with her husband, had transferred US $89,500 to Carbon as a down payment for a “townhouse” in Carbon Grove Estates in Cole Bay. The transfer was made in January 2020 to the account of CAG’s holding company Melbon Enterprises at Windward Island Bank in Philipsburg. According to the sales agreement, the apartment would be delivered no later than December 31, 2020.
The sale had been made through Island Dreams Realty, owned by real estate agents Linda and Mario Molinari, who also acquired clients for CAG’s Guana Bay project, requiring a down payment of 50% of the purchasing price of a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment. Construction on the hillside property near Guana Bay Road never started, and the land was publicly actioned off on June 22, 2023, at the request of the lender.
The real estate agents nor anyone else advised investors that down payments of more than 10 per cent of the purchase price are prohibited under the St. Maarten Civil Code. Or that direct payments to the developer are forbidden by civil law; payments made by real estate buyers must be deposited under a public notary and not made directly to a developer before delivery has taken place.
In January 2021, a year after transferring US $89,500 as down payment for a “townhouse” in Cole Bay, the American couple came to the realization that construction had not even begun. “This was just the beginning of our troubles,” the woman said. “We also found out the unit we thought we were buying had actually been changed on the sales contract, and our townhome was going to be built higher on the hill where it is actually impossible to build anything.”
The woman, who had convinced her husband to invest in a vacation home on St. Maarten, was getting very nervous and anxious about the money she had sent to Carbon.
“I was desperately trying to get answers,” she said. “The only link I had to Mr. Carbon was through my real estate agent Mario Molinari. He was rather elusive about the project which did not appease me at all. Mario and Linda Molinari were residents of St. Maarten and they have now sold their business and left the island.”
By the end of January 2021, the woman finally had a video call with Dwain Carbon. “The only thing I wanted was to opt out of the project and get my deposit back which was my legitimate right according to the sales contract,” she said.
The sales contract included the following paragraph: In the unlikely event this project does not materialize, for whatever reason, and or the project cannot guarantee the Buyer the projected finished condo as originally anticipated, Developer shall repay to the Buyer the original investment amount and the applicable interest charges set forth by the Central Bank.
“After a very heated conversation Dwain agreed to pay me back,” the woman said. “However, I would have to wait until the end of March for the first payment and he would pay me back in three increments. I had a letter of agreement drafted by a lawyer to make things official. Unfortunately, when came the time of the first payment Dwain did not follow through.”
By mid-April 2021, the couple had not received their first payment. They decided to travel to St. Maarten and confront Carbon. “It became clear to us that he does not like confrontation,” the woman said about the developer, who paid them back some money. “Yet, we were still very far from the $89,500. He then signed another agreement, promising that by May 3, 2021, we would have the deposit back. In the meantime, we just had to be patient, not take him to court or place liens on his accounts because that would only delay or completely jeopardize the reimbursement.”
After many months of not getting reimbursed, the couple decided to take Melbon Enterprises to court. They won the case. “Only to learn a few weeks later, that Carbon and his family had fled the island,” the duped investors said. “Although he was ordered to pay his debt to us, he decided to ignore the judgement. At this point he no longer communicates with us.”
In his December 14, 2022, letter to CAG’s clients, Azille called the American lady the “Instigator-In-Chief”. “She asked me to see if CAG could find a way to continue the payments,” he wrote. “I told her we would if she will assure me that she will discontinue spreading lies and instigating against Dwain and CAG. I was prepared to pay from my pocket, if CAG found it impossible.”
Azille stated that he had a Gentleman’s Agreement with the lady. “It lasted less than 24 hours because before midday the following day I received text messages she had sent to you [other investors who demanded reimbursement, Ed.] and others instigating action against Dwain,” Azille wrote. “I immediately had the office call her and advised her that she had broken the Agreement and therefore would not be receiving the regular payments [of US $ 500 per month, Ed.].”
Azille informed the persons who had made payments to CAG without receiving what they anticipated, that Dwain Carbon had been advised to declare his company bankrupt. “Dwain has been advised to go that route, but because of his desire to ensure that you do not lose your homes or investment, he refused,” Azille wrote. “He is concerned about your welfare and the damage that this action would have on the St. Maarten Real Estate industry.”
He then sneered: “Do you think that the Instigator-In-Chief cares about what happens to you or how it would affect St. Maarten? This is just some food for thought. I am sure that most, if not all of you are more intelligent than her.”
The American couple’s ordeal is one of about 150 personal tragedies faced by both foreign and local investors. Some local residents invested their life savings pursuing the dream of owning their own home. A local resident, who had borrowed the money for the down payment for a condo in Guana Bay from a friend, said he is so distraught that he will never even think about buying property on the island no more. “Luckily, I was able to pay back my friend. I recently made the last payment. With that, I lost seven to eight years’ worth of savings.” He choked: “I am done. But there are others who had also borrowed money, and are still struggling to pay back to family members and friends. It is horrible.”
