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Multiple reports that all of Dominica's financial institutions, whether local or branches of international banks, are now refusing to accept any Citizenship By Investment [economic passport] funds, including one $20m payment declined, for lack of due diligence reports on the applicants, have led the Skerrit government to take a radical, and illegal, step with the money. According to reliable sources, all the CBI money is being deposited into Dominica's Social Security Fund accounts, a blatant violation of the terms and conditions of the CBI program.*
How many different way has the Roosevelt Skerrit government violated the laws of fiduciary responsibility, by unilaterally, covertly, and quietly placing these millions of dollars in accounts specifically designated to hold only social security payments ? We cannot say, but certainly qualified attorneys, licensed to practice law in Dominica, can locate the relevant legal authorities, and publish their findings, and whether this breach of trust is sufficient grounds for removal of a public official.
Additionally, the government may be scrambling around, seeking to place some of the CBI money outside the country, which is yet another fiduciary violation.** Eyewitnesses report that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit was seen traveling to St Maarten, with the Dominica AID Bank Chairman of the Board. If any CBI funds, which are later determined, by a court of competent jurisdiction, to be Iranian proceeds, Dominica AID Bank could find itself on the OFAC List, and listed as a codefendant in the US Reza Zarrab Iran sanctions violations case, together with PM Skerrit. Aren't these people aware of the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986, with its 20-year penalty ? Are they that arrogant ?
The CBI cash machine, which the Skerrit government is playing out until at least July, when the report of their captive review committee is due, is about to implode. Who will be standing next to it when this happens, we wonder.
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* Not to mention that it runs counter to everything that has been repeatedly stated, on the record, by the government's self-appointed learned spokesman, Sir Anthony Astaphan, whose version of the truth is often more in the nature of "alternative facts."
** Remember our recent article, regarding a Dominican who asked online for an economic passport, as a personal test, and was told to deposit his CBI payment in a Singapore account. Is that not also a violation of CBI regulations ?
Chronicles of Monte Friesner
Contributed by Kenneth Rijock
