Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B1107-0043-016, Bahamas, Stafford Sands und Dr

Sir Stafford Lofthouse Sands (23 September 1913 – January 23, 1972) was a former

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

of the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

(1964–1967), who held other high positions in the islands until his self-chosen exile in 1967. He helped create the Bahamas'

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

industry and is credited with being an architect of Bahamian post-war prosperity. He has been dubbed the "Father of Tourism" in The Bahamas.Simon
"Facts and Fiction About Diversification"
Bahama Pundit, 9 August 2010. Sands was a lawyer who, from 1946, represented

Wallace Groves Wallace Groves (–30 January 1988) was a prominent financier, who, after his release from federal prison in 1944, moved to the Bahamas and there founded and operated the free trade zone, resort, and casino development Freeport, Bahamas, Freeport o ...

and other Americans who sought to establish casinos, resorts, free-trade areas, and other developments in the islands, primarily at

Freeport Freeport, a variant of free port, may refer to: Places United States *Freeport, California *Freeport, Florida *Freeport, Illinois *Freeport, Indiana *Freeport, Iowa *Freeport, Kansas *Freeport, Maine, a New England town **Freeport (CDP), Maine, the ...

. From 1958, when party politics began, Sands had a prominent role in the

United Bahamian Party The United Bahamian Party (UBP) was a major political party in the Bahamas in the 1950s and 1960s. Representing the interests of the white oligarchy known as the Bay Street Boys, it was the ruling party between 1958 and 1967.Dieter Nohlen (2005), ...

(UBP), which was in power until 1967. The 1967 Royal Commission of Inquiry reported that Sands and the UBP received large payments, represented by Groves as "consulting fees," from the casino interests. Sands then permanently left the islands for exile in Spain, along with his considerable fortune. His portrait appeared on the 10

Bahamian dollar The dollar (sign: $; code: BSD) has been the currency of The Bahamas since 1966. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign ''$'', or alternatively B$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents ...

note from 2001 until 2005, and again since 2010, while it was replaced by that of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

References

1913 births 1972 deaths People from Nassau, Bahamas Members of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas Finance ministers of the Bahamas United Bahamian Party politicians 20th-century Bahamian lawyers {{Bahamas-politician-stub