WHAT WILL BECOME OF ALL THOSE ILLEGALLY-ISSUED CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT PASSPORTS?

 

The legal status of the thousands of CBI/CIP passports, issued by Saint Kitts & Nevis, and by Saint Lucia, and which were processed and issued by them, notwithstanding that only a portion of the legally-required fees and charges were paid by the applicants, remains unresolved. The balance of the fees and cost must be paid to validate the transactions, and the passports issued and outstanding. Otherwise, the passports will have to be cancelled and voided.

Saint Kitts Prime Minister Drew, who has gone on record, declaring that, unless the full price is paid, the citizenship and passports will be cancelled, has not since taken any action to do so, even though he had been presented in court with clear and convincing evidence that illegal discounts were paid and accepted. Saint Kitts Attorney General Wilkin has taken no action in the matter, although there is incriminating evidence made public against him in pending litigation. Over in Saint Lucia, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet are in total denial, even though in nearby Dominica, cancellations of passports by the PM there have already begun. In Saint Lucia, the government has attempted to shift the blame to the purchasers, asserting that they should have consulted the CIU website, and not made application if it was for an illegal, reduced fee.

A solution is needed; Who is going to pay those outstanding costs, the sales agents, who sold at a discount, or the purchasers themselves?   We believe the sales agents, many of who are located on remote parts of the world, far from the Caribbean, will simply shut down their businesses, and move on to some other business enterprise. The purchasers, who will probably claim fraud or misrepresentation, most likely will not pay the balance either, as many have admitted that it was the low price offered to them which induced them to apply. When it comes to the issue of who has the most culpability for the end result, there appears to be more than enough to go around, especially when it comes to the elected leadership, who supervised CIU officers and staff.

This leaves the two governments in the position where they must cancel the passports, as they have not been fully paid for. What litigation will then ensure on behalf of the buyers, and against which individuals and legal entities, and in what court in what country, are issues that will shortly be dealt with by attorneys and law firms representing the purchasers, most of whom are affluent, and therefore not deterred by the costs that they will incur. What the CBI programs will look like after being battered by massive litigation, adverse publicity, and potentially, judgments for money damages, we cannot say, but the end result may be that the Citizenship by Investment programs in St. Kitts and in St. Lucia will not survive. 

Can all this be avoided? is there a fair and equitable solution to the problem, that protects the purchasers, but results in the additional revenue that the law requires? None has yet emerged from the scandal, but one is desperately needed to avoid scarring the CBI industry beyond repair.