St Lucia CIU Boss Rejects Martinez’ Claims: Saw No Substantiating Evidence During Meeting in DC, Did Not Implicate Hilaire

MSR’s RICO lawsuit against multiple Caribbean CBI officials and private sector actors has grabbed headlines over the last several weeks. Several of the defendants in the case have fervently dismissed the claims, some labeling them “baseless, malicious attacks.” Today, one of the co-defendants refutes a number of the plaintiff’s public statements on Saint Lucian TV last week.

Yesterday, IMI reported on an interview with MSR Media’s Philippe Martinez on Saint Lucian TV, in which he said he had added Saint Lucia’s Deputy Prime Minister Ernest Hilaire as a defendant to his RICO lawsuit against various Caribbean CBI parties in the United States and that, moreover, he had met Mc Claude Emmanuel – CEO of Saint Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment Unit – in Washington DC.

During the interview, in response to a question from the interviewer, Martinez indicated he had presented to Emmanuel evidence of what he alleges is an “international scam” to defraud investors in the citizenship by investment programs of Saint Lucia and Saint Kitts & Nevis. Moreover, Martinez implied (but did not state directly) that the meeting had played a role in his decision to widen the suit to also include Deputy PM Hilaire:

“Based on that meeting that we had with Mc Claude,” Martinez told the interviewer, “and we have had more discussions with him since then that will have legal consequences, we will amend the recall lawsuit next week to add more defendants.”

Today, in a statement he has shared with IMI, Emmanuel states that Martinez presented no evidence of any scam related to the Saint Lucia CIP and that, moreover, he had made clear to Martinez that he was not aware of Hilaire’s involvement in anything of the kind:

“On the invitation of Mr. Martinez, through his local representative, I agreed to meet with him and his lawyers to gain an understanding and reasons for my inclusion in the civil suit being filed and to avert any possibility of reputational damage to the Saint Lucia CIP Unit,” said Emmanuel. “At the meeting with Mr Martinez, no evidence was presented to me to substantiate the allegation of any scam in the Saint Lucia CIP.”

He added that he had “made it very clear to Mr. Martinez that I was not aware of Hon. Hilaire or any Saint Lucian official being involved in any scam or illegal activities as it relates to the operation of the CIP.” He said he had also explained that “the issuance of real estate shares went through all proper legal processes and the related funds were properly accounted for in the escrow account set up for that purpose.”

Emmanuel emphasized that “at no time did I expressly or otherwise suggest that Hon. Hilaire or any Saint Lucian official may be a source of concern in his alleged scam taking place in Saint Lucia’s CIP.”

Deputy Prime Minister Hilaire, who has just returned from a CBI promotional tour in the Middle East, has announced through his press secretary that he will “address the nation” tomorrow in a public broadcast where he will discuss the citizenship by investment program.