MSR Media Indicates its Lawsuit Over CBI Discounting Has Widened in Scope

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Movie producer Philippe Martinez and his company MSR Media, who late last year announced plans to sue Saint Kitts & Nevis’ former prime minister and head of CIU over what they characterize as “an international scam” related to CBI real estate discounting, have issued a press release indicating their case has broadened in scope.

In his initial public claims in November, Martinez said MSR’s lawsuit would target former PM Timothy Harris, former CIU head Les Khan, as well as Caribbean Galaxy executive Ying Jin. IMI understands that Harris has responded by suing MSR and Martinez for defamation over the serious allegations.

MSR Media and Martinez have long promised to share “explosive” evidence of corruption, fraud, and money laundering. So far, however, while the company says it has shared this evidence with law enforcement, it has yet to release such evidence to the public.

What’s new in this weekend’s press release from MSR Media is chiefly two elements:

First, MSR Media indicates it could broaden the scope of its lawsuit to also target third parties “who knowingly participate in these illegal practices or allow them to continue—including CBI escrow agents and CBI sales agents such as Eric Major of RIF Trust and Latitude.”

While MSR Media singled out the well-known companies in the press release, dozens of investment migration companies worldwide have helped clients obtain Caribbean citizenship through discounted investments in CBI real estate, not only in Saint Kitts & Nevis but also in the other Caribbean CBI countries.

The practice has been the subject of industry discussion for years, and the general (but far from universal) consensus has been that as long as the government allows some companies to sell CBI at a discount, other companies will be pressed to follow suit or become uncompetitive. This is particularly the case in heavily saturated markets like that of Dubai, where clients shop around for the lowest-priced CBI packages, as described in vivid detail last week by Anastasia Barna in her article The Risks of CBI Real Estate “Financing”.

IMI has contacted Eric Major, who says he has chosen to refrain from commenting at this stage.

Second, MSR’s newest press release indicates it has obtained fresh evidence that it plans to introduce in US courts, such as “financial data from the US and international financial systems, including evidence of transactions benefiting government officials related to the CBI industry.”

The media company also claims to have received “troubling, serious evidence of potential security risks to the US and the European Union resulting from poorly performed due diligence processes handled directly and/or indirectly by Caribbean Galaxy and its CEO out of China,” evidence it says it has already shared with US authorities and which it plans to share with the European Commission this week.

The company has also invited officials of the Saint Lucian government to travel to Washington DC to “review investigative findings regarding the criminal activities undertaken by some bad actors in the CBI industry, including, but not limited to, Caribbean Galaxy, which currently dominates the CBI market in St. Lucia.” MSR Media indicated it hopes this evidence will help persuade the Saint Lucian government to end its cooperation with Caribbean Galaxy and finally join the pan-Caribbean Memorandum of Agreement.

MSR Media has promised to “make an additional announcement regarding potential litigation involving individuals and companies based in St. Kitts and Nevis” today.

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