SAINT LUCIA PRIME MINISTER ATTEMPTED TO PAY OFF CBI RICO PLAINTIFFS WITH TAXPAYER FUNDS, AND COVER UP SCANDAL THROUGH INSISTING ON RETRACTION FROM VICTIMS

PHILIP PIERRE, the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, after first declaring that he was not in any way involved in the massive billion dollar fraud, money laundering and corruption scandal, then tried behind the scenes to settle the litigation for his corrupt ministers and CIP Board, by offering taxpayer funds, coupled with a demand that the damaging allegations of the RICP case be publicly retracted, which would result in a cover up of the painful truth about the country's Citizenship by Investment program.

The whole sordid episode started when attorneys for RICO case defendant MCCLAUDE EMMANUEL, CIP CEO, requested a figure from plaintiffs, seeking to achieve a quiet, out-of-court, settlement of the claims against Emmanuel. When the plaintiffs' counsel responded, All of a sudden it was disclosed that he also represented Pierre, who is not a party to the proceedings, nor is the Government of St. Lucia. Whether this dual representation of the two clients constitutes a Conflict of Interest is an issue to be discussed in another forum.

At that point, Pierre, acting now on behalf of the Government of St. Lucia, replied, through counsel, that his government could not pay a significant amount, and that the figure would have to be negotiated, implying that the funds would come from a government account, meaning that it was to be taxpayer money. He also arrogantly demanded that, as a condition of the settlement, plaintiff would be forced to publish a retraction of the allegations in the RICO case. The plaintiffs advised that they refuse to accept taxpayer money to settle the exposure of individual defendants

Pierre's insinuation of himself, and therefore the Government of St. Lucia, in paying off the personal exposure of his corrupt ministers and CIP Board, is morally and ethically wrong, and illegal, in more ways than we can count. Whether he will be removed from office for cause, or by some other operation of law, we cannot say, but the international reputation of Saint Lucia has most likely now taken a major hit, as well as the assessment of Country Risk by banks in the United States, especially those who maintain correspondent accounts for indigenous Caribbean financial institutions, and all who must maintain risk-based compliance programs.