Latest / IMI Podcasts / MSR Case: Insiders Visit DC as Martinez Adds Deputy PM Hilaire to RICO Case, Deflects Financial Restitution Questions
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_00: During a one-hour interview on DBS television, Philippe Martinez revealed that MSR Media would add St.
- 0:07SPEAKER_00: Lucia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism, Ernest Hilaire, as a defendant in MSR's RICO lawsuit.
- 0:16SPEAKER_00: Martinez also accused former St.
- 0:18SPEAKER_00: Kitts and Nevis CIU head Les Kahn of masterminding Galaxy's alleged discounting scheme, discussed his Washington, D.C.
- 0:27SPEAKER_00: meeting with St.
- 0:28SPEAKER_00: Lucia CIP CEO McClaude Emmanuel, and dodged questions regarding financial compensation and his past.
- 0:36SPEAKER_00: In May, MSR Media filed a RICO suit in U.S.
- 0:41SPEAKER_00: federal court against Les Khan, McClaude Emmanuel, Ying Jin, Denzel Douglas, Timothy Harris, Farron Lawrence, Caribbean Galaxy, and others, alleging they engaged in a collusive racket related to the CIPs in St.
- 0:57SPEAKER_00: Kitts and Nevis and St.
- 0:59SPEAKER_00: Lucia.
- 1:00SPEAKER_00: MSR media claims to possess evidence showing that the due diligence provider for Caribbean Galaxy's Prison Project paid kickbacks to Ying Jin and that some Chinese nationals involved in money laundering obtained Cotition citizenship using false identities.
- 1:17SPEAKER_00: The St.
- 1:18SPEAKER_00: Lucian government soon distanced itself from the lawsuit, stating that it relates to accusations against Caribbean Galaxy and individuals in St.
- 1:27SPEAKER_00: Kitts and Nevis, and that St.
- 1:29SPEAKER_00: Lucia has no business with Felipe Martinez.
- 1:34SPEAKER_00: Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate Corporation has denied the allegations made by MSR Media in their RICO lawsuit, calling them false accusations.
- 1:45SPEAKER_00: Former St.
- 1:46SPEAKER_00: Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr.
- 1:51SPEAKER_00: Denzel Douglas, also denied the allegations, calling them ridiculously false and riddled with hearsay.
- 2:00SPEAKER_00: In the interview with DBS, Martinez alleges that the St.
- 2:04SPEAKER_00: Kitts and Nevis administration, run by former Prime Minister Dr.
- 2:09SPEAKER_00: Timothy Harris, quote, gave to Galaxy 5,500 shares to build a jail that cost$50 million, okay?
- 2:18SPEAKER_00: That old contract was masterminded by Les Kahn, who now is the CEO of Galaxy, end quote.
- 2:26SPEAKER_00: According to Martinez, those shares would amount to$1 billion, and he claims there is a, quote,$950 million difference between the cost of the jail and the contract Galaxy was given and the money that they collected, end quote.
- 2:43SPEAKER_00: He maintained that Galaxy had received the money but hadn't built the jail and that, quote, Galaxy was able to receive the money in China, end quote, because there was no escrow account in St.
- 2:56SPEAKER_00: Kitts and Nevis.
- 2:58SPEAKER_00: When asked about the evidence, Martinez claimed to, quote, have the bank account, I have the contract for the sales agent sending the money directly to Galaxy, end quote.
- 3:09SPEAKER_00: Talking to IMI, Martinez maintained that Galaxy has managed to collect the money without government control or any escrow account.
- 3:18SPEAKER_00: He also claims that the government has no control over the funds and that he and his team have evidence to prove it.
- 3:25SPEAKER_00: He also told IMI that he, quote, will share the evidence in U.S.
- 3:30SPEAKER_00: federal court, not in the media.
- 3:33SPEAKER_00: This is not a media trial, this is a U.S.
- 3:36SPEAKER_00: one, end quote.
- 3:38SPEAKER_00: Martinez then claimed to have proof through recordings of Les Kahn.
- 3:42SPEAKER_00: Quote, I sat down with Les Kahn, one of my associates, Lee Beasley, and the escrow promoter, Mr.
- 3:50SPEAKER_00: Farron Lawrence, and I told Farron Lawrence we are going to confront Les Kahn, and are you okay if we record him?
- 3:58SPEAKER_00: And he said absolutely, end quote.
- 4:01SPEAKER_00: Martinez said he has recorded Les Kahn several times, and that despite the defendants' protestations of no wrongdoing, he quote, could end that whole thing right now by simply putting online every recording and video of Les Kahn confessing of the entire corruption scheme and fraudulent system in the CBI program, end quote.
- 4:25SPEAKER_00: Before the interviewer could ask him why he doesn't post them, Martinez argued that he has chosen, quote, the path of hiring some of the most prestigious lawyers in Washington, D.C., and file a RICO lawsuit in U.S.
- 4:40SPEAKER_00: federal court because they have to be exposed and they have to pay for the damage that they made to my investors, but also for the robbery that they've done to the citizens of the Caribbean with their passport money, end quote.
- 4:54SPEAKER_00: Asked whether this should have been the government's responsibility and whether his public airing of the issues is tarnishing the names of the countries, Martinez said he quote, waited 18 months, sent letters with my lawyers.
- 5:09SPEAKER_00: We have evidence of criminality, corruption.
- 5:13SPEAKER_00: But some of the people that are defendants in the RICO lawsuit are part of the administration, end quote.
- 5:20SPEAKER_00: Martinez is trying to obtain a court order to subpoena the five corresponding banks.
- 5:26SPEAKER_00: He claims to have received the transactions of two of the five banks and alleges that, quote, Dr.
- 5:32SPEAKER_00: Harris and Galaxy are in U.S.
- 5:35SPEAKER_00: court trying to block us from accessing the other three banks, end quote.
- 5:40SPEAKER_00: He proclaimed that Harris's and Galaxy's defamation suit, which they filed against him earlier, was the reason he could obtain financial transactions.
- 5:50SPEAKER_00: It's the best thing that they've ever done to me, Martinez said, because as soon as they've done that, my American lawyers, who are experts, they are top lawyers, said, How could they make such a strategic mistake?
- 6:05SPEAKER_00: We filed what's called a 1782 in the United States, he added, and we were able to get bank transactions.
- 6:14SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine?
- 6:15SPEAKER_00: We have the bank transactions, every single one of them.
- 6:18SPEAKER_00: Do you realize how scared they are right now?
- 6:22SPEAKER_00: They know that because of this, the fraud is over.
- 6:26SPEAKER_00: It is important to note that while Martinez did claim to have proof to back up his allegations, he did not provide any concrete evidence during the interview.
- 6:36SPEAKER_00: While Martinez has included the former prime minister of St.
- 6:39SPEAKER_00: Kitts and Nevis in his lawsuit, he has not taken legal action against St.
- 6:44SPEAKER_00: Lucian Prime Minister Philip J.
- 6:46SPEAKER_00: Pierre, against whom he indicates he harbors no ill will, but he is now expanding the lawsuit to include members of the St.
- 6:54SPEAKER_00: Lucian government as well.
- 6:57SPEAKER_00: Martinez alleged that MSR found out the St.
- 7:00SPEAKER_00: Lucian government has given 18,000 units to Galaxy.
- 7:04SPEAKER_00: Later in the same interview he stated that the number was fourteen thousand.
- 7:09SPEAKER_00: Questioned as to the source of this number, he revealed that, quote, one member of the CIP of St.
- 7:16SPEAKER_00: Lucia came to see us in Washington, D.C.
- 7:19SPEAKER_00: secretly last week, okay?
- 7:22SPEAKER_00: He told us the number, end quote.
- 7:24SPEAKER_00: He did not reveal who the person was.
- 7:27SPEAKER_00: Martinez claims that, quote, since we filed the lawsuit, a lot of people are coming to see us in Washington, D.C.
- 7:35SPEAKER_00: because they're scared, end quote.
- 7:37SPEAKER_00: According to Martinez, the Citizenship by Investment Unit CEO, McClaude Emmanuel, was among those who reached out.
- 7:46SPEAKER_00: Martinez claimed he and Emmanuel spoke to him on a Zoom call before later flying to Washington to meet Martinez at his lawyer's office, where they showed Emmanuel the evidence they had.
- 7:58SPEAKER_00: The interviewer asked Martinez whether he had recordings of Emmanuel as part of his evidence deck and whether he showed them to him.
- 8:07SPEAKER_00: Martinez responded that he did, but said he was, quote, not here to make the trial of Mr.
- 8:14SPEAKER_00: Emanuel.
- 8:15SPEAKER_00: We have informed Mr.
- 8:16SPEAKER_00: Emmanuel of something that he should be aware of, end quote.
- 8:20SPEAKER_00: Martinez claims that Emmanuel's had come to see him in Washington primarily because he wanted to be out of this Rico lawsuit.
- 8:29SPEAKER_00: Martinez stated that Emmanuel, quote, explained how the board operates and that he's not the decision maker and all that.
- 8:37SPEAKER_00: We were able to understand who is the official who has allowed this thing to happen in St.
- 8:43SPEAKER_00: Lucia, which is the same scam that you have in St.
- 8:46SPEAKER_00: Kitts, he said.
- 8:48SPEAKER_00: Martinez accused Deputy PM Hilaire of being involved in the alleged scam, which, quote, could not have happened without the strong collaboration of someone, which we listed before as a co-conspirator.
- 9:02SPEAKER_00: But now that we have strong confirmation of his exact role, we will move him as a defendant, Mr.
- 9:09SPEAKER_00: Hilaire, and others we're looking at, end quote.
- 9:13SPEAKER_00: Regarding the St.
- 9:14SPEAKER_00: Lucian PM, Martinez stated, PM Pierre is not at all involved in that.
- 9:19SPEAKER_00: That's what Mr.
- 9:20SPEAKER_00: Emmanuel explained to us.
- 9:22SPEAKER_00: Martinez insisted that his team, quote, knew everything already, but we now have more information.
- 9:30SPEAKER_00: Other people are coming to Washington next week, you know, so we are going to amend the lawsuit, end quote.
- 9:37SPEAKER_00: Pressed by the interviewer as to whether Emmanuel's visit had been a catalyst in the listing of Hilaire as a defendant, Martinez said, I don't want to put Mr.
- 9:47SPEAKER_00: Emmanuel on the spot.
- 9:50SPEAKER_00: Martinez maintained that he already knew the role of Hilaire and his relationship with Galaxy and Les Cons and the nature of the con we knew that already.
- 10:00SPEAKER_00: IMI has contacted Emmanuel for his comments.
- 10:04SPEAKER_00: MSR's RICO lawsuit is a civil suit, not a criminal one, meaning that any accountability will come in the form of financial compensation for the plaintiff.
- 10:15SPEAKER_00: In RICO lawsuits, courts can award plaintiffs up to triple damages, attorney fees, and litigation costs.
- 10:23SPEAKER_00: When the interviewer asked Martinez how much he claims to have lost due to the alleged bad actors in the CIP, Martinez said, I'm not going into that.
- 10:34SPEAKER_00: I'm not going into that, okay?
- 10:36SPEAKER_00: He then redirected the discussion to the Canell's resort and the infrastructure project.
- 10:42SPEAKER_00: When the interviewer persisted with the question, quizzing Martinez on how accountability would come and what dollar value he put on any alleged damages, Martinez maintained that he would, quote, love to answer your question, but I'm not at the liberty to answer your question, end quote.
- 11:01SPEAKER_00: Asked whether he had received letters of support for his endeavor, and he replied, I don't receive support calls, but I can tell you what I receive.
- 11:11SPEAKER_00: People are scared, and I have sales agents coming to Washington, secretly, giving us documents.
- 11:19SPEAKER_00: The interviewer also asked Martinez about the accusations he faces of quote, colluding with opposition parties, politicians, and other actors to bring the destruction of Caribbean galaxy and ultimately tarnishing the reputations and the image of both Saint Lucia and Saint Kitts Nevis, end quote, to which he replied, it's pure political bullshit that doesn't even need to be dignified.
- 11:47SPEAKER_00: The interviewer then brought up that Martinez had complained of being labeled a labeled a fraudster by multiple voices in the region and asked him about his run-ins with the law to which he responded, wait, wait, wait, wait, let's be very careful.
- 12:04SPEAKER_00: I had an issue when I was twenty one.
- 12:07SPEAKER_00: I have since then obtained my green card in the US, and I am a resident of the U.S.
- 12:12SPEAKER_00: I've produced 70 movies.
- 12:15SPEAKER_00: He then used the actions of one of the accused in his RICO lawsuit to emphasize his point.
- 12:21SPEAKER_00: Quote, instead of people calling me a fraudster, and I understand that Mr.
- 12:26SPEAKER_00: Harris does that, they should be very careful.
- 12:29SPEAKER_00: You know, he approved me for the CBI program.
- 12:32SPEAKER_00: End quote.
- 12:36SPEAKER_00: This episode first appeared as an article by Ahmad Abbas on IMIDAily.com.
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