WILL THE PRIME MINISTER'S LAWYER VIOLATE THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES AGAIN?

After I published an article entitled WAS IT NEPOTISM OR CORRUPTION, AT SAINT LUCIA CIP, THAT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF THOUSANDS OF FRAUDULENT PASSPORTS? (August 23, 2024), the story was reprinted in local Saint Lucia media. Thereafter, PETER FOSTER KC, a lawyer for Prime Minister PHILIP PIERRE, but representing the PM in an individual capacity, notified such media that the article, in his opinion, constituted Libel, and that such publication might even be considered a crime, under the laws of Saint Lucia. In reply, we note that Attorney Foster might want to remember that the defense to Libel or Defamation is Truth.

In my opinion, the letter was sent solely to censor the access of the people of Saint Lucia to a story which affects each and every one of them, the illegal discounting in the Citizenship by Investment (CBI/CIP) program, but the letter does demonstrate that Foster has failed to learn a previous lesson that has been extremely painful to one of his other clients, due to his own actions.

Over in Saint Kitts and Nevis, after CBI stakeholder MSR Media publicly exposed alleged fraud, money laundering and corruption in that country's economic citizenship program, Foster's law firm filed the defamation suit on behalf of his client, TIMOTHY HARRIS. Harris has been exposed to substantial damage from the filing of the §1782 proceeding. What he failed to do was thoroughly research all the possible consequences of such filings, because under Federal law in the United States, (28 U.S.C. §1782) in defending a foreign action, an individual is authorized to issue a subpoena for records. The subpoena obtained due to the filing of the St. Kitts Defamation case has allowed MSR to obtain Bank of America records of all the individuals and entities involved, concerning the fraud, money laundering and corruption. Additionally, the media outlet that received the letter from Fosters has indicated that it is considering invoking §1782 in the event any action is taken on behalf of Pierre or his daughter.

It is established law, in all the English Common Law jurisdictions, that an attorney's failure to research legal authorities, in advance of, dispensing advice to a client, constitutes Gross Negligence. Whether attorney Foster is liable to his clients is a question for a court of competent jurisdiction, and not relevant to this discussion, but now Foster is apparently threatening similar action to Saint Lucia media, which will give that entity the ability to file another §1782 action in the United States, against Philip Pierre, individually, and obtain bank records, real estate records, records of securities investments, and who knows what else, that could incriminate him for criminal activity. We wonder whether Mr. Foster thought of that when drafting what amounts to a threat letter for his client.