WHAT ABOUT THE CARIBBEAN'S OTHER DEADLY SIN; THE SALE, FOR CASH, OF DIPLOMATIC PASSPORTS TO MONEY LAUNDERERS AND TRANSNATIONAL FRAUDSTERS?

Long before the advent of Citizenship by Investment (CBI) passport sales programs, dodgy Prime Ministers from the five Eastern Caribbean CBI & CIP states sold diplomatic passports under the table, always for cash, to whomever had a need to pose as a diplomat, where they could evade customs & immigration officers in Europe. Money launderers and transnational fraudsters know that, if they want to move cash, bearer financial instruments, previous gems, valuable art and antiques, through national borders with impunity, a Caribbean state diplomatic passport will do the job.

While the holders of such bogus diplomatic credentials, who are totally unqualified under the Vienna Convention as bone fide envoys, are ignored by the United Nations, the financial crime threats posed by the abuse of diplomatic privileges needs to be curbed, as I can tell you as a reformed former money launderer that such a tool, in the wrong hands, gives the holder the ability to make an effective end run around anti-money laundering in the private sector.

Whether the new American foreign policy operations in the Eastern Caribbean will result in a change of governments that will end such policies, as part and parcel of anti-corruption reform, we cannot say, but we will be watching. The days when a career criminal can secure a diplomatic passport, no questions asked, need to come to an end.