Bizjets line the runway in Saint Kitts; 24/12/2024 |
If you have been following the marketing, to Nigerian investors,of the expansion of Saint Kitts' ROBERT BRADSHAW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (f/k/a Golden Rock), under the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program, you should know that our investigation has revealed that the project is, in truth and in fact, being quietly orchestrated by China, which means that there may be a hidden agenda for the airport upgrade, now being supervised by CARIBBEAN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORP (CIDC).
When we first noticed that the project was being actively hawked inside Nigeria, our initial concerns were that it could result in the acquisition of SKN CBI passports by Nigerian fraudsters and white collar criminals, and other unsuitable candidates for citizenship, acquiring passports with visa-free access to Europe, as well as funding from illicit sources not thoroughly vetted by Saint Kitts' notoriously inept due diligence program, which has verged on intentionally approving bad actors.
Now however, given our information regarding the fact that China is pulling the strings on the airport upgrade project, we have substantial concerns that the results may not be the publicly stated goal of supporting increased tourism, but in creating a facility with a potential military application for China.
If you know your Caribbean history, remember that it was the ongoing rapid construction, by a large Cuban contractor contingent, of the runway in Grenada, which had come under a radical political regime, that was one of the principal factors in the international invasion in 1983. The potential future use of the Grenada airport as an airbase for Soviet heavy bombers, was correctly seen as a National Security threat by the United States. Whether history is now repeating itself, with China the emerging threat, potentially having access for its military aviation assets in the Eastern Caribbean, is an issue which cannot be ignored.
We will be closely monitoring this project, and watching for the United States' response to its progress. as part of our coverage of China's efforts to expand its political, economic, social and martial influence in the states of the Eastern Caribbean.
We expect to see sparks fly this week, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with six of the leaders of the Caribbean countries from the organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). while not listed on the agenda, the knotty American problem of money laundering connected to correspondent accounts in the United States receiving Citizenship by investment (CBI/CIP) will most certainly be on the minds of the senior State Department officials conducting the talks. American banks which are servicing the Caribbean have major exposure to prosecution for violation of the Money Laundering Control Act by processing illegal CBI application funds, although they have thus far resisted calls to close accounts which are an economic lifeline for the Caribbean, as 90% of the region's international trade flows through the United States.
What are the specific money laundering issues? Let's quickly survey them.
(1) SAINT KITTS & NEVIS and SAINT LUCIA: the CBI & CIP programs of those countries have processed thousands of illegally-discounted applications, acting in cooperation with Chinese-based CARIBBEAN GALAXY GROUP. Those payments are by definition money laundering.
(2) GRENADA: Another CBI state allowing deeply and illegally, discounted applications, this one in conjunction with yet another dodgy Chinese-controlled consultancy, HENG SHENG GROUP, has also resulted in the Proceeds of Crime to infect the American monetary system.
(3) DOMINICA: A monopoly by a single stakeholder, and of course more illegally-discounted applications has tainted this state's program. Murders connected to a survivalist-oriented CBI stakeholder project have raised serious questions about a total lack of government control over its CBI.
(4) ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA: A groundbreaking §1782 proceeding in the US is about to expose decades of money laundering orchestrated by the country's Prime Minister, GASTON BROWNE, all processed through American financial institutions; Antigua has become ground central for a Chinese-controlled "Hong Kong-style" enclave completely autonomous, including its financial sector.
While there have not been any instances of De-Risking resulting in any East Caribbean state losing all its US correspondent banks, such an event could occur, with disastrous economic, social and political consequences for the region. Will these EC states continue to allow their CBI programs to endanger their correspondent banking, and risk catastrophic De-Risking, and what will Secretary Rubio do about it?