An explosive scandal in the Caymans

When you see a headline about the premier of the Cayman Islands being arrested in a corruption probe, it’s natural to assume it has something to do with the country’s lucrative, but often shady offshore banking sector. And indeed, McKeeva Bush — who essentially acts as the country’s finance minsiter as well as prime minister ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
Cayman Islands Government
Cayman Islands Government
Cayman Islands Government

When you see a headline about the premier of the Cayman Islands being arrested in a corruption probe, it's natural to assume it has something to do with the country's lucrative, but often shady offshore banking sector. And indeed, McKeeva Bush -- who essentially acts as the country's finance minsiter as well as prime minister -- has been the target of investigations for financial irregularities for years.

When you see a headline about the premier of the Cayman Islands being arrested in a corruption probe, it’s natural to assume it has something to do with the country’s lucrative, but often shady offshore banking sector. And indeed, McKeeva Bush — who essentially acts as the country’s finance minsiter as well as prime minister — has been the target of investigations for financial irregularities for years.

But this particular case turns out to be much more interesting:

The 57-year-old Bush was detained “in connection with a number of ongoing police investigations,” Dougall said in a statement. Those include probes into suspected theft related to misuse of a government credit card and breach of trust for the alleged importation of unspecified explosive substances without valid permits.

I know details are still sketchy, but shouldn’t the illegal explosive substances be a slightly bigger concern than the credit card here?

Bush plans to continue working as the country’s leader as the investigation procedes. 

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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