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Developer’s Bahamas proposal plan ruined after official assumes girlfriend is sex worker

These European bombshells weren’t cleared for takeoff in the Caribbean.

A Miami-based real estate developer’s extravagant proposal plan was ruined when an immigration official in the Bahamas erroneously assumed his Moldovan model girlfriend, 25, and her sister, 36, were sex workers, The Post has learned.

Developer Hal “Nuby” Sears had intended to pop the question to girlfriend Darina Pînzaru during a planned nine-day voyage on his 70-foot yacht starting on Valentine’s Day.

But then she was refused entry to the Bahamas, forcing him to put the proposal on ice — for now.

The decision by a female immigration official at Nassau’s Lynden Pindling International Airport scuttled the romantic trip with Darina, a model and content creator, who Sears met last summer in Romania.

She had traveled with her older sister Ina — but both were turned around and told by the official: “I know why you’re here.“

Sears told The Post: “It was so horrifying what they went through. It is beyond comprehension. They were pre-judged.”

Darina Pînzaru and Hal ‘Nuby’ Sears had to cancel their nine-day Caribbean vacation last month thanks to a “nefarious prejudice” by Bahamian immigration officials. courtesy of Hal Sears

The Pînzarus and 10 other guests were supposed to join Sears on his 70-foot, $5 million yacht, Amici, for a lavish trip, dropping anchor at stops throughout the Bahamas, as well as Turks and Caicos.

But those island-hopping dreams were dashed by “nefarious prejudice,” he said when Darina and Ina landed from London.

The two are natives of Moldova who also hold Romanian citizenship, and had all the necessary requirements, including hotel reservations and confirmed future itineraries, for entry to the Bahamas.

Sears had arrived at the airport to wait for Darina and her sister.

Darina Pînzaru (right) and her older sister, Ina were assumed to be sex workers. courtesy of Hal Sears

Ina said she was initially granted entry into the Bahamas, even getting her passport stamped, but then Darina encountered issues.

The pair were sent to the airport’s immigration office, where they were grilled about their plans, Ina said.

“We were treated like criminals,” Darina told The Post.

“They even threatened to put us in jail,” Darina told Sears what was going on by text, and he called for help from the Four Seasons’ Ocean Club resort where he had been staying.

The hotel’s head of security joined Sears at the airport, where they met the head immigration officer.

But she was immediately “dismissive,” he said.

“‘They’re not in, they are out,’” Sears recalled the official declaring.

“I have information, they’re not coming in.”

On the other side of the gate, immigration officials seized Darina and Ina’s cell phones and then detained them for hours.

Their phones, laptops, and luggage were all searched, and fingerprints were taken.

“‘Do you have the financial means to stay in the Bahamas?’” Ina recalled being asked. “I said, ‘Yes, of course, we do, we have cash, cards, no problem.’”

The staffer finally consulted with her female supervisor.

“She talked apparently to this lady, the head of the immigration office,” Ina said.

“And she came outside, shot a glance at us, and said, ‘They’re not going in.’ That’s all.”

Sears’ yacht, Amici, is a 70-foot, 2022 Pershing 7X worth about $5 million. courtesy of Hal Sears

The immigration officials gave “zero” explanation for the barred entry, said Ina.

“Up until this point, nobody explained a thing to us,” said Ina.

“While we were sitting outside, this lady, the head of the immigration came out and she said, ‘Yeah, I know your culture, I know why you’re here,’” Ina recalled her saying in reference to Moldova.

“We don’t want to you here, and you’ll never set foot on Bahamian land.’”

Ina said she can only assume one thing.

“My feeling is that she thought we were from Eastern Europe and we came there as sex workers,” she said. “They said they were putting us on a flight back to London and that’s all.”

Sears subsequently filed a complaint with the Bahamas embassy in London on behalf of Darina and Ina.

The trio had not received a response as of this week, he said.

Multiple messages seeking comment from the embassy and Bahamas’ Department of Immigration were not returned.

Darina and Ina flatly deny working in the sex trade.

The elder sister works in the family’s business, Di Vero Atelier, which makes custom wedding gowns and evening dresses in Moldova’s capital, Chișinău.

Moldova, a landlocked nation between Romania and Ukraine, became an independent republic in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Sears now has new plans for proposing to Pînzaru. courtesy of Hal Sears

It remains among the poorest countries in Europe despite solid economic performance in the past two decades, according to the World Bank.

Stereotypes about young Eastern European women working as prostitutes have long been fueled by legitimate official concerns that some countries fail to crack down on sex trafficking.

The State Department has expressed concern about Moldova’s ability to prevent trafficking, and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime issued a report which identified the country as one of the major sources of trafficked women in western Europe, along with Romania, Russia, and Bulgaria.

Sears said the ordeal tanked his plan to propose to Darina, but he intends to rectify the nightmare next month in Amsterdam, where he plans to put a 2.5-carat rock on her finger.”

“The only justice we want is an apology from the Bahamian government,” Sears said.

“But we’re never going to get it, so we at least want others to know they’re at risk of this kind of nefarious prejudice — there’s no other way to describe this.”