SAINT LUCIA'S GOVERNMENT, EXCEPTIONALLY LATE WITH ITS 2024 CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT (CIP) REPORT, AUTHORIZES TWO NEW PROGRAMS, BUT OFFERS ZERO DETAILS

While SAINT LUCIA'S Prime Minister, PHILIP J. PIERRE, has ostentatiously flaunted in Parliament what he claims is the 2024 Citizenship by Investment (CIP) Annual Report, which was due more than six months ago by law, he has continued to withhold it from release. Insiders claim that he fears a backlash from Saint Lucians, when they learn of the extent to which it shows mainly sales to Chinese passport purchasers, by Chinese-controlled CARIBBEAN GALAXY REAL ESTATE LIMITED, which has been stained by major scandals involved underselling fraud, money laundering and corruption, in both Saint Lucia as well as in Saint Kitts & Nevis.

To add insult to the injury suffered by Saint Lucians, the government quietly released a notice, at a place not generally seen by the public, the Gazette, of its intent to open two new programs. Curiously, no details were offered, save the names of the projects, and there has been no further information released to the public.They therefore have no idea of the scope of these projects, and how many passports will be offered.

This tactic, which smacks of government intent to conceal the project from the public, is but additional evidence of a concerted effort to deprive Saint Lucians of information they need to exercise proper oversight over a CIP program that operates in secret, and has allowed Caribbean Galaxy to illegally divert an alleged USD$1.3bn in sales proceeds to China. Unless further details are forthcoming, Saint Lucians, who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of CIP projects, will remain in the dark, and probably again be the victims of the corrupt actions of the CIU, the agency which operates the CIP program.

 

The man who is illegally withholding the 2024 Report from St. Lucia