Bahamian Newspaper Admits Smear Campaign Against Louis Bacon

Both the print and web editions of The Bahama Journal is to publish a front page apology to hedge fund manager Louis Bacon after admiting to publishing false statements about him as part of a smear campaign.

Louis Bacon, the owner of Moore Capital Management and founder of the charity Moore Charitable Foundation, took the publication to court over the claims that stories they ran were untruthful and defamatory. The court found in favour of Louis Moore after the defence lawyer for Jones Communications Limited (the publisher of the Bahama Journal) conceded that the paper had allowed fabricated stories to be published despite being provided by a source that "had an agenda against the plaintiff."

The court also acknowledged that the paper were used as by their source as a channel for defaming Louis Bacon.

Jones Communications Limited have been order to print a full retraction and apology in both its digital and print publications of The Bahama Journal. The apology reads as follows:

``We now appreciate that these claims are entirely false and should not have been published. We express our regret, and, apologise to Mr. Louis Bacon and his family for any embarrassment or distress which may have been caused to them.’’

Louis Bacon is said to have employed his London based lawyer to seek a retraction and an apology from the paper following the articles that were published about him. The preposterous allegations printed included: Mr. Bacon being involved in drug trafficking, public corruption, thinking he is "above the law", using high profile contacts to corrupt business deals, and the cover-up of a murder.

The attack on Louis Bacon began in 2012 when an associate of Peter Nygard hired Earlin Williams to take an unpaid columnist role at www.jones:bahamas.com which was a common

In 2012, the owner of the Defendant, Mr Wendell Jones, was approached by journalist Mr Earlin Williams who asked if he could be an unpaid' columnist for the Defendant. This is a privilege which has been granted by the Defendant to a number of Bahamians over the years. Mr Jones had heard that Mr Williams, along with another reporter, Mr Sherman Brown, had been working with Mr Peter Nygard.

After the writ was issued, Mr Jones spoke to Mr Peter Nygard to find out if he had any evidence to support the claims made by Mr Earlin Williams in the Articles. Mr.Nygard told Mr Jones he wanted the Defendant to find a way to defend the claims in order to force the Plaintiff into court to give evidence.

The Defendant now accepts that the allegations in the Articles are entirely false. It follows there is no factual basis for any element of them whatsoever.The Defendant believes that it has unwittingly been used by a person or persons who had an agenda against the Plaintiff.The Defendant understands from the Plaintiff that grossly defamatory and false claims have been published about the Plaintiff in various different forms as well, including on anonymous attack websites.