SHOULD THE INDIGENOUS BANKS OF THE CARIBBEAN WORRY ABOUT COPYCAT RICO SUITS, IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE MSR MEDIA CASE?

The inclusion of ST KITTS-NEVIS-ANGUILLA NATIONAL BANKS LTD. as a party defendant, in the four hundred and fifty million dollar RICO suit, filed by MSR MEDIA against a number of individuals in St. Kitts and St. Lucia, has reportedly already had an effect upon local banks in the five East Caribbean states that have Citizenship by Investment (CBI/CIP) passport programs. They are looking into their potential increased level of risk as the result of the litigation filing.

Banks in the CBI states, which have enjoyed lucrative US Dollar deposits from applicants for passports & citizenship will be most likely conducting internal audits, to determine whether:
(1) The bank accepted discounted CBI fees, when such were illegal under local laws.
(2) If any CBI application money was transferred abroad or improperly or illegally diverted, when it was required to be held in local escrow or trust accounts?
(3) There were bribes and/or kickbacks paid to bank officers and staff to facilitate any transactions, especially those prohibited under local CBI laws and regulations.
(4) Did senior government officials, including CBI agency heads, give illegal orders and directives to bank officers to break the law?

It will only be a matter of time before some sharp attorney or law firm representing CBI passport holders, or stakeholders in CBI program, choose to emulate the actions of MSR MEDIA, and go after the bad actors in their own jurisdiction, and the local banks, which moved their US Dollar deposits through correspondent accounts in the New York banking center, will be primary targets. We trust that the banks involved will begin reserving sufficient funds to meet the challenges which may lay ahead for them, both from civil litigation, regulatory responses, and even the closing of their US and UK correspondent accounts; We will be watching.