ST KITTS: Saint Lucia distances itself from St Kitts CIP lawsuit

St Kitts-based CIP Agent, MSR Media, has filed a lawsuit against the government of St Kitts in Florida under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, claiming that the Kittian government is complicit in illegal underselling of passports.

Saint Lucia’s CIP CEO, McClaude Emmanuel was also named as co-defendant in that suit.

ST KITTS: Saint Lucia distances itself from St Kitts CIP lawsuit

The crux of MSR Media’s complaints lie with Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate, a CIP Agent based in St Kitts and Saint Lucia. According to MSR Media Founder, Philippe Martinez, Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate is facilitating the illegal underselling of passports in St Kitts and Saint Lucia.

“Behavior like that is gambling with the visa access of all citizens in the Caribbean. It also gambles with the ability to invest, because if the EU cuts the Schengen visa, then the value of the passport is irrelevant,” said Martinez in a May 27 interview. The government of Saint Lucia has chosen to distance itself from the ongoing rift between St Kitts and MSR Media, stating that its due diligence procedures are ironclad.

“The Government notes that the inclusion of the Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment Programme is merely an attempt to involve Saint Lucia in a dispute between Caribbean Galaxy in another territory which has absolutely no part in the contractual obligations, grievances, or operational misgivings between MSR Media and the Government of Saint Kitts & Nevis.”

ST KITTS: Saint Lucia distances itself from St Kitts CIP lawsuit

Meanwhile, in St Kitts, Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew has announced a legal review of their CIP operations and has committed to revoking the passports of any CIP citizen who invested below the minimum requirement.

“We have already instructed King’s Counsel to act in this judicial review matter. If any of the investments for which citizenships have been granted are proven to be unlawful, with or without the lawsuit, I am, and always have been, prepared to take the necessary statutory steps under the Citizenship Act to protect our Federation’s good name and revoke citizenships obtained by fraud,” PM Drew stated.          

26 April 2024

US: Biden’s 44% Crypto Tax Plan Faces Fierce Opposition

President Joe Biden’s administration has presented a disputable idea to impose a 44% tax on cryptocurrency transactions. This policy, whose purpose is to bring more revenue into the government treasury,

Read More
18 October 2024

SOUTH AFRICA: SARS Pushes Crypto Tax Compliance for South African Traders

Efforts by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to guarantee that all crypto assets owned by South Africans are correctly recorded for tax reasons are intensifying. Given an estimated 5.8 million

Read More
31 May 2024

NETHERLANDS: Dutch coalition unveils new era: Green economy, stricter EU policies

Four right-center parties that reached an agreement to form the government of the Netherlands have presented a joint program. The coalition agreement heralds a change in political direction, writes

Read More
31 January 2025

NETHERLANDS: Fine for de Volksbank N.V. for deficient anti-money laundering controls

Summary of the decisionBanks play a crucial role in the fight against subversive crime because of their unique access to financial information and transaction flows. This is precisely why it is essential

Read More