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

Transcript

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

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: MSR's RICO lawsuit against multiple Caribbean CBI officials and private sector actors has grabbed headlines over the last several weeks.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Several of the defendants in the case have fervently dismissed the claims, some labeling them baseless malicious attacks.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Today, one of the co-defendants refutes a number of the plaintiff's public statements on St.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Lucian TV last week.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yesterday, I am I reported on an interview with MSR Media's Philippe Martinez on St.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Lucian TV, in which he said he had added St.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: 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 McClaude Emmanuel, CEO of St.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Lucia's Citizenship by Investment Unit in Washington, D.C.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: 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 St.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Lucia and St.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Kitts and Nevis.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Based on that meeting that we had with McClaude, Martinez told the interviewer, and we have had more discussions with him since then that will have legal consequences.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: We will amend the recall lawsuit next week to add more defendants.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Today, in a statement he has shared with IMI, Emanuel states that Martinez presented no evidence of any scam related to the St.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: On the invitation of Mr.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: 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 St.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Lucia CIP unit, said Emmanuel.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: At the meeting with Mr.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Martinez, no evidence was presented to me to substantiate the allegation of any scam in the St.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Lucia CP.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: He added that he had, quote, made it very clear to Mr.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Martinez, that I was not aware of Hilaire or any St.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Lucian official being involved in any scam or illegal activities as it relates to the operation of the CIP, end quote.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Emmanuel emphasized that, quote, at no time did I expressly or otherwise suggest that Hilaire, or any St.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Lucian official, may be a source of concern in his alleged scam taking place in St.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Lucia's CIP, end quote.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: This episode first appeared as an article by Christian Henrik Nesheim on IMIDAily.com.
• 3:55
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• 4:03
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