Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, is demanding US$10 million in damages after what his legal team describes as a coordinated campaign of defamatory accusations surrounding the controversial sale of the superyacht Alpha Nero. The Prime Minister’s lawyers contend that statements made by a US-based attorney representing interests linked to the yacht’s former ownership were not only false but deliberately engineered to smear Browne’s name and question the legitimacy of the sale.
High-Stakes Accusations
At the center of the legal storm is a claim that Browne personally benefited from the sale of the Alpha Nero, a vessel with links to Russian billionaire Andrey Guryev. Although Guryev denies ownership, the yacht was seized by Antiguan authorities in 2022 after it was left abandoned in Falmouth Harbour. The vessel was eventually sold in July 2024 for a reported US$40 million, a figure which the US-based attorney challenged, referencing a previous $67 million bid allegedly made by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Browne’s legal team argues that such claims create the false impression of corruption, fraud, and misappropriation of public assets. The accusations, they say, are not only baseless but were disseminated globally with intent to damage Browne’s reputation and undermine his credibility both at home and abroad.
Reputational Stakes at the Global Level
The letter sent by Browne’s legal counsel underscores his stature as a regional and global statesman. The Prime Minister chairs several high-profile international bodies, including a UN expert group on vulnerability indexing and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Commission on Climate Change and International Law. He is also set to chair the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2026, which will be hosted by Antigua and Barbuda.
According to his attorneys, the defamatory claims strike at the heart of this public profile, accusing a sitting Prime Minister—who also serves as Minister of Finance—of criminal wrongdoing without any foundation.
Legal Firepower Assembled
The letter, delivered to attorneys and associates of a prominent US law firm, lists multiple instances where the alleged defamatory remarks were published or republished across international and regional media. It highlights what Browne’s legal team describes as an abuse of professional privilege, where the attorney’s role as legal counsel was used to give weight to unverified and damaging claims.
In addition to the financial damages sought, Browne’s attorneys have demanded a full retraction, public apology, and removal of the allegations from all platforms. If these conditions are not met, they warn that legal proceedings will commence against the attorney, the law firm involved, and any parties responsible for disseminating the contested remarks.
Beyond the Yacht: Political and Legal Ramifications
The broader implications are significant. This legal dispute is no longer confined to the sale of a luxury yacht. It has become a flashpoint in the global narrative surrounding political accountability, international sanctions enforcement, and the intersection of geopolitics with small-island governance.
For Browne, the stakes are high. With upcoming leadership roles on the global stage and growing scrutiny over the transparency of Caribbean leaders in high-profile asset seizures tied to sanctioned oligarchs, any hint of impropriety could compromise both national and personal diplomatic capital.
As of now, the accused parties have not publicly responded to the demands or the threat of litigation. The coming weeks could determine whether this ends in a courtroom—or in a headline-making settlement that reshapes perceptions around power, reputation, and political warfare in the Caribbean.
