Prime Minister Phillip J. Pierre spoke on 97.1FM’s “Rev Up SLU” on Friday, where host Andre Paul questioned him about the Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) and the MSR Media Lawsuit. The Lawsuit named Mc Claude Emmanuel, CEO of St Lucia’s CIP, as a defendant.
On Wednesday evening, MSR Media’s Phillipe Martinez claimed during an interview on DBS Television that the prime minister, through a lawyer representing Emmanuel, had initiated discussions for monetary settlement. Martinez suggested that the payment would come from public funds.
Paul directly asked, “The gentleman claims, Mr. Martinez, that your government wrote a letter to him trying to settle this matter. Straight up again, did we write the gentleman asking for any kind of arrangement to make this thing go away? Did that actually happen, yes or no, Mr. Prime Minister?”
Pierre responded, “As far as I know, the government has done nothing of that nature. Lawyers deal with lawyers. The government has done nothing of that nature… Lawyers deal with lawyers, there’s a case you know? There’s a case.” He clarified that there were no lawyers representing the government, as there is no case against the St. Lucian government.
“There is a RICO case against individuals, even there you misled,” Pierre said, noting that only Emmanuel is currently named as a defendant.”
In a recent interview, Martinez said he would amend the lawsuit to include 18 St Lucians, including Investment Minister Dr. Ernest Hilaire. He also stated he would not accept settlement money from the St. Lucian public.
Paul asked who was paying Emmanuel’s legal fees. Pierre answered, “Mr. Claude Emmanuel is in the RICO situation as the General Manager of the CIP program. He is there in his personal capacity, and his fees have to be paid by the CIP program.”
In his interview, Martinez explained, “So here’s what happened… in mid-July approximately, my lawyers received a call from the American Lawyer representing Mc Claude saying that there’s been a major development… they say, look, the Prime Minister of St. Lucia wants this to go away, right? So, what would it take for you to walk away? Meaning, how much money do you want to walk away?”
Martinez claimed that he communicated through his lawyers that he would be satisfied with $9 million to remove Emmanuel and Hilaire, who has not yet been added as a defendant, from the US-based suit. Martinez continued, “We received the letter… saying basically that the Prime Minister is a good man, and he cannot justify that he pays me, that the country cannot justify that he pays me $9 million, and that I have to come back with another proposal and that I would have to retract the statement that I’ve made about the CIP in St. Lucia.”
Martinez interpreted this as an intention for the payment to come from public funds. He presented his lawyer’s response to the alleged letter, stating, “Thank you for conveying the prime minister’s response. There are a few things we wish to clarify. The $9 million offer was in response to a request from the Prime Minister for what it would take for our client to resolve the matter, at no point in conveying the offer did we refer to funds from the St. Lucia public treasury…”
The situation remains tense as both sides present their claims.
Source/Photo Credit: Loop St. Lucia.
