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By Hayden Boyce – SUN Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

In a historic and damning judgment that sends shockwaves across the Caribbean political landscape, former Turks and Caicos Islands Premier , his brother and attorney , and former government minister were found guilty on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, following one of the region’s longest-running and most consequential corruption prosecutions.

The verdicts were delivered by after a tense four-hour hearing in a packed and hushed Supreme Court, with the judge presiding without a jury. When asked whether they wished to address the court prior to sentencing, all three defendants declined, indicating they would speak through their legal representatives. Sentencing has been adjourned to a later date; however, the judge made clear his intention to remand the convicted men in custody pending that hearing.

The sweeping convictions stem from a sprawling corruption scheme involving more than US$20 million in alleged bribes, fraudulent land transactions, and money laundering tied to high-value Crown land deals in the .

Former Premier Misick was convicted on three counts of bribery relating to transactions involving the Beaches resort interests, as well as land on Salt Cay and West Caicos. Hanchell was found guilty on two counts of bribery connected to land deals on Salt Cay and West Caicos. Chal Misick was convicted on four counts of money laundering under the Proceeds of Crime Ordinance.

Evidence before the court revealed a complex web of corrupt payments allegedly totalling approximately US$14.2 million linked to Salt Cay, US$4.7 million associated with West Caicos, and a further US$2 million connected to Beaches-related transactions.

Lead prosecutor , KC, told the court that the defendants knowingly accepted unlawful payments and inducements from developers in exchange for favourable government decisions involving Crown land and major resort-linked properties. The court accepted the prosecution’s case that these actions amounted to a systematic betrayal of public trust at the highest levels of government.

The convictions mark a defining moment for accountability and governance in the Turks and Caicos Islands, closing a dark chapter that has loomed over the territory for more than a decade. As the region now awaits sentencing, the fall of once-powerful political figures stands as a stark warning that corruption at the highest levels—no matter how entrenched—can and will be exposed.