ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) – The Antigua and Barbuda government says it has hired a United States-based legal firm to defend the country in a Florida court against a Russian woman who have sought permission to issue subpoenas to access the records of Prime Minister Gaston Browne and other officials involved in the sale of a megayacht that her father had abandoned.

The megayacht, abandoned by Andrey Guryev, a Russian businessman who founded a fertilizer company, is being sought by his daughter, who claims she is the rightful owner. The government has confirmed that it sold the yacht last year.

Earlier this month, her attorneys were told that they must first notify Prime Minister Gaston Browne and others before serving subpoenas on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the US-based Clearing House Payments Co.

The attorneys for Guryeva-Motlokhov alleged in a March 11 filing in federal court that Browne’s administration has not released documents related to the US$40 million sale of the Alfa Nero.

The government has since announced that it has made available, US$35,000 to the US-based law firm, which it did not name, that will represent the interest of Antigua and Barbuda.

Prime Minister Browne said that the law firm charges US$900.00 per hour and the money has been deposited as an advance to engage the services of the firm.

“The lawyer said to me, there is no precedent of anyone having the right to go into the personal banking account of a prime minister and he said to me; do not do it and set that precedent,” he declared.

Additionally, the prime minister noted that as a politician he is what has been described as a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), meaning that there are additional interests in his banking and other information and under those circumstances it is impossible for that money to have been siphoned off and deposited into an account locally, or internationally without raising numerous alarm bells.

“It just could not happen,” Browne said, adding that the government is footing the bill for the legal fees as all the persons involved were acting in their official capacities when dealing with the Alfa Nero matter.

Both the government and the opposition have traded words over the sale of the yacht with the government accusing the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) of playing a role in the lawsuit now before the Florida court. The opposition has denied the accusation.