It hasn't reached anywhere, this is just paper that you are reading and a man is talking,” said Prime Minister Pierre, reacting to online documents which purportedly implicate Saint Lucia’s CIP CEO in a lawsuit filed in the United States.
Eyes glued on Saint Kitts and Nevis as a supposed Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organisations (RICO) civil suit was brought against the country’s CIP and two former Prime Ministers by MSR Media.
The supposed filed suit was published by MSR Media in a press release on May 23rd, 2024.
However, Prime Minister Pierre disclosed that the neither the CIP Agency, nor its CEO, are in possession of any legal documents from the United States Federal Court.
“There's nothing to do with the US State Department, nothing to do with the Treasury, nothing. It's one man, one aggrieved non-governmental actor, taking action against other individuals, that's it. That's it. These are allegations by one man,” Pierre stated.
According to the Prime Minister, the Opposition UWP and MSR Media seem to be working together to undermine the integrity of the country’s CIP.
“When you pray that we lose the visa, that there is a visa revocation, when you pray that your ministers get arrested and go to jail for years, when you pray for these things, who loses the most? The people of the country.”
Pierre contends that while the government and opposition may disagree on matters of policy, the efforts by Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet to bring the country in disrepute are unwarranted.
“There are some things we can disagree on. We can disagree on education policy. We can disagree on investment policy. We can disagree on unemployment. We can disagree even on crime. But when you join with international fraudsters, to damage your country because you believe you'll get some gain.”
Philippe Martinez of MSR has been convicted and jailed for fraud and is currently benefitting from contracts with the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis. Martinez has also been a player in the Citizenship by Investment Programme.