The statements of the Five East Caribbean states which offer passports and economic citizenship to foreign nationals under their CBI programs, to the effect that they have reformed their application process to exclude unqualified and criminal elements apparently have no basis in fact. Criminals can still acquire these valuable identity documents with impunity, provided they are able to quietly pay a premium in cash, namely in US Dollars, to intermediaries who are linked to senior government officials. The situation revealed in the expose' of how career criminals, sanctions evaders and corrupt Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) are able to buy CBI passports in the region, by Aljazeera, which alerted compliance officers to the danger, remains a clear and present threat in 2023, notwithstanding extensive public relations campaigns touting reforms by St. Kitts, Dominica, Antigua, St. Lucia and Grenada.
We have a report this week that an American law enforcement officer, working undercover in the Commonwealth of Dominica, was approached by a cousin of the country's Prime Minister, ROOSEVELT SKERRIT, after making it known that the agent had a relative with a long criminal record who needed a passport under an alias. The agent was offered a CBI passport, no questions asked, even after disclosing his purported relative's criminal convictions.
The terms and conditions for purchase were extremely disturbing: if the buyer paid USD$80,000, in cash, he would be "qualified" by Skerrit to be approved on an application for a CBI passport and Dominica citizenship. The money, in cash, was required to be paid to the cousin, not in Dominica, but over in neighboring Antigua & Barbuda, obviously to foil any potential witnesses to the payment.
As this case demonstrates, it's still business as usual in the East Caribbean, and the business of selling passports to literally anyone who has the financial means, remains the policy of those governments.
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