ARE LARGE COMMISSIONS PAID TO SALESMEN THE REASON ST. KITTS CAN'T MAKE REFUNDS TO CANCELLED CBI APPLICANTS

"The Government of St Kitts and Nevis continues to show its support for the CBI programme. The 2023 regulations saw increased incentives offered to stakeholders. One such example is the commissions to international marketing agents (IMA). Under the new CBI regulations, the commissions payable by the government on successful SGF CBI applications were increased from USD15,000 to USD20,000. Applications to become an IMA must be submitted under these new CBI regulations. This can be done directly or with the assistance of a local law firm."

For those readers who were wondering why the St. Kitts Citizenship by investment (CBI) passport sales agency still after one year, has been engaged in double-talk with applicants from Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus, who have never received their promised refunds after their participation was cancelled, the reason appears above, which is a verbatim quote. The authorities, having paid out $USD 20,000 in commissions ( and not in East Caribbean currency) to brokers for every application, don't have the money to make good on their promise to refund the money.

Remember, SKN uses the CBI fees to paid its bloated and overpaid government staff, most of whom contribute little to the domestic economy. In the cases of the withheld application fees not being properly returned to the applicants, obviously even those funds, which are intended for national economic development, were also used up to pay government officials. They must be working on such a small margin that, when there was a proper call to make refunds, after terminating certain applicants, they cannot repay them. The one year delay, with a call for still more notarized forms which was an obvious delaying tactic. 

Notwithstanding the CYA press releases coming from official sources, detailing how the repayment process was ongoing, our survey found that none of the Eastern European applicants have received their funds. Simply put, the government has become addicted to those CBI payments, and once spent, they have no other sources of cash flow to deal with any untoward events, although the refund policy was an SKN decision. Perhaps now, readers who are considering the purchase of CBI passports should consider carefully the considerable potential pitfalls and dangers that the programs present to an investor. Caveat Emptor,  to be sure.