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Oct 31, 2009 at 12:10 PM
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The Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal concluded on Friday October 23, but not before a lawyer appealed his disbarment from the St Lucia Bar Association handed down by Justice Ephraim Georges.
Almost one year ago, the STAR broke the story that the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court made the following announcements: “ . . . Upon reference by the Disciplinary Committee dated 28th September 2008 pursuant to Section 39 (3) of the Legal Profession Act (Cap 2.04), Revised Laws of St Lucia it is ordered; That having regard to the seriousness of the complaints proved against the Respondent: 1/ The Registrar of the High Court do remove the name of Bryan Stephen from the Roll of Attorneys-at-Law of Saint Lucia
forthwith . . .”
The announcement last year came after a complaint was lodged to the Bar Association against the lawyer stemming from complaints by former clients. The British clients claimed the local lawyer was hired to purchase land and an Alien Land Holdings License on their behalf. The Brits went on to say the lawyer took monies from them on several occasions and in the end the transaction was not done satisfactorily; the clients were not in possession of land or their monies. The Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Association is limited in meting out punishment to delinquent members. They can only fine a lawyer if he is found breaching the rules and
cannot suspend or disbar. As such, the Disciplinary Committee recommended the case be heard before Justice Georges.
Almost one year ago, the STAR broke the story that the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court made the following announcements: “ . . . Upon reference by the Disciplinary Committee dated 28th September 2008 pursuant to Section 39 (3) of the Legal Profession Act (Cap 2.04), Revised Laws of St Lucia it is ordered; That having regard to the seriousness of the complaints proved against the Respondent: 1/ The Registrar of the High Court do remove the name of Bryan Stephen from the Roll of Attorneys-at-Law of Saint Lucia
forthwith . . .”
The announcement last year came after a complaint was lodged to the Bar Association against the lawyer stemming from complaints by former clients. The British clients claimed the local lawyer was hired to purchase land and an Alien Land Holdings License on their behalf. The Brits went on to say the lawyer took monies from them on several occasions and in the end the transaction was not done satisfactorily; the clients were not in possession of land or their monies. The Disciplinary Committee of the Bar Association is limited in meting out punishment to delinquent members. They can only fine a lawyer if he is found breaching the rules and
cannot suspend or disbar. As such, the Disciplinary Committee recommended the case be heard before Justice Georges.
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When Deshawn Mathurin left the house with his grandmother last
Thursday on his way to a Jounen Kwéyòl picnic with a community group, his mother says the last thing she said to him was, “you’re goingwith mama coco.” One week after setting off to the Jounen Kwéyòl event, three-year-old Deshawn has not returned home.
Due to the circumstances surrounding the boy’s disappearance, sources say the RSLPF has moved from the search and rescue phase, to the investigative phase. Deshawn’s family says police investigators may be treating the incident as a kidnapping.
When the STAR visited the family’s home in Rocky Lane, Dennery on Tuesday, the three-year-old’s mother Kacy Mathurin was being questioned by a police officer. It seemed the interview was nearing an end and a lone female officer asked the 20-year-old when was the last time she’d gone searching for her son. Kacy, with a newborn baby in her arms, surrounded by family and friends in a cramped living space, said she’d last searched on Saturday and had gone as far as the fig bushes and the beach. She said other people, including her mother, who was just returning home from Fond d’Or, had been searching for the infant.
Kacy put the final words into her police statement then it was read out to her by the police officer. There didn’t seem to be any sympathy coming from the police. Midway the officer simply asked Kacy if she was listening and asked the young woman to sign when she was through. The policewoman said officers would be back the next morning and bluntly told the family, “I hope you get him alive.”
As soon as the officer was done, friends and family broke the silence dissatisfied that the police had asked the young woman so many questions. Kacy left the room and went to give her one-year-old daughter a bath. When she was done she spoke with the STAR.
“I can’t think of anyone who’d want to kidnap my child but I feel like a suspect the way some of the police officers are asking all these questions,” she said. “Not all of them. Some. There was another woman who came here; she said she was a corporal. She came with a dark skinned man and from the time he came there it was like he wanted to arrest somebody. From the time he came he said he not on nobody time. Like he don’t want to work or anything like that.”
Kacy held her newborn baby close the entire time we spoke. Her one-year-old daughter played in the
vicinity with her three-year-old uncle Antonio; Kacy’s mother’s son.
“I’m just trying [to cope] but since I have the baby I can’t think too much,” she said. “I’m not putting the blame on anyone.”
Police were out in large numbers on Wednesday in search of Deshawn. At 3:30pm when contacted Kacy said she still didn’t know what was going on because she’d
stayed at home and her mother, who’d gone along on the search had not returned home yet.
Prior to the search Kacy said she’d been told that there’d been two strange women at the picnic that was held in the heritage park.
“The teachers told me that from the time he was missing, they didn’t see the ladies there again. They didn’t have any children there with them, and they didn’t come with anyone there, just the two of them. I don’t know where they’re from, they didn’t say, and I wasn’t there.”
At the Mathurin residence on Tuesday family and friends were gossiping about the possibility of the three-year-old being taken away by an evil spirit, or by “someone who made evil,” who wanted to use him for those purposes. The legend of the La jah bless was brought backinto the picture but in that regard Kacy said, “Well it’s not that that take him.”
“If it was La jah bless that took him we would have found him by now,” she said seriously. “So we think it’s someone who took him and went with him. We’d find his body if it was a La jah bless but since we didn’t find it anywhere, on the beach, neither in the bushes . . . I think he’s still alive.”
Thursday on his way to a Jounen Kwéyòl picnic with a community group, his mother says the last thing she said to him was, “you’re goingwith mama coco.” One week after setting off to the Jounen Kwéyòl event, three-year-old Deshawn has not returned home.
Due to the circumstances surrounding the boy’s disappearance, sources say the RSLPF has moved from the search and rescue phase, to the investigative phase. Deshawn’s family says police investigators may be treating the incident as a kidnapping.
When the STAR visited the family’s home in Rocky Lane, Dennery on Tuesday, the three-year-old’s mother Kacy Mathurin was being questioned by a police officer. It seemed the interview was nearing an end and a lone female officer asked the 20-year-old when was the last time she’d gone searching for her son. Kacy, with a newborn baby in her arms, surrounded by family and friends in a cramped living space, said she’d last searched on Saturday and had gone as far as the fig bushes and the beach. She said other people, including her mother, who was just returning home from Fond d’Or, had been searching for the infant.
Kacy put the final words into her police statement then it was read out to her by the police officer. There didn’t seem to be any sympathy coming from the police. Midway the officer simply asked Kacy if she was listening and asked the young woman to sign when she was through. The policewoman said officers would be back the next morning and bluntly told the family, “I hope you get him alive.”
As soon as the officer was done, friends and family broke the silence dissatisfied that the police had asked the young woman so many questions. Kacy left the room and went to give her one-year-old daughter a bath. When she was done she spoke with the STAR.
“I can’t think of anyone who’d want to kidnap my child but I feel like a suspect the way some of the police officers are asking all these questions,” she said. “Not all of them. Some. There was another woman who came here; she said she was a corporal. She came with a dark skinned man and from the time he came there it was like he wanted to arrest somebody. From the time he came he said he not on nobody time. Like he don’t want to work or anything like that.”
Kacy held her newborn baby close the entire time we spoke. Her one-year-old daughter played in the
vicinity with her three-year-old uncle Antonio; Kacy’s mother’s son.
“I’m just trying [to cope] but since I have the baby I can’t think too much,” she said. “I’m not putting the blame on anyone.”
Police were out in large numbers on Wednesday in search of Deshawn. At 3:30pm when contacted Kacy said she still didn’t know what was going on because she’d
stayed at home and her mother, who’d gone along on the search had not returned home yet.
Prior to the search Kacy said she’d been told that there’d been two strange women at the picnic that was held in the heritage park.
“The teachers told me that from the time he was missing, they didn’t see the ladies there again. They didn’t have any children there with them, and they didn’t come with anyone there, just the two of them. I don’t know where they’re from, they didn’t say, and I wasn’t there.”
At the Mathurin residence on Tuesday family and friends were gossiping about the possibility of the three-year-old being taken away by an evil spirit, or by “someone who made evil,” who wanted to use him for those purposes. The legend of the La jah bless was brought backinto the picture but in that regard Kacy said, “Well it’s not that that take him.”
“If it was La jah bless that took him we would have found him by now,” she said seriously. “So we think it’s someone who took him and went with him. We’d find his body if it was a La jah bless but since we didn’t find it anywhere, on the beach, neither in the bushes . . . I think he’s still alive.”
American officials have cracked down on two separate scams that sought to take advantage of nationals of Guyana and Haiti.
In one case, several Guyanese migrants in New York now face deportation after falling prey to a Puerto Rican man posing as an immigration attorney.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office in New York says Wilmer Rivera Melendez promised to get at least 14 Guyanese nationals in Brooklyn green cards in the US. He is accused of taking up to US$75,000 from the undocumented migrants as an employee of W&R Immigration Services, purportedly a non-profit organisation located in Covington, Georgia.
Melendez allegedly took the migrants money and filed false paper work with the US Immigration and Citizenship Services agency. Based on the fake filings, the migrants now face deportation from the US.
The 60-year-old is now being held on US$175,000 bail after pleading not guilty to charges including grand larceny, scheme to defraud and falsely appearing as an attorney. He faces a maximum of four years in jail.
In the other matter, three South Florida residents have been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with conducting a Ponzi scheme that collected at least US$14.3 million from hundreds of Haitian-American investors residing in South Florida and New Jersey.
The SEC alleges that Ronnie Eugene Bass Jr, Abner Alabre, Brian Taglieri and their companies, HomePals Investment Club LLC and HomePals LLC (HomePals), conducted the scheme from April 2008 to December 2008 by selling unsecured notes and promising to double investors' money every 90 days.
In one case, several Guyanese migrants in New York now face deportation after falling prey to a Puerto Rican man posing as an immigration attorney.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office in New York says Wilmer Rivera Melendez promised to get at least 14 Guyanese nationals in Brooklyn green cards in the US. He is accused of taking up to US$75,000 from the undocumented migrants as an employee of W&R Immigration Services, purportedly a non-profit organisation located in Covington, Georgia.
Melendez allegedly took the migrants money and filed false paper work with the US Immigration and Citizenship Services agency. Based on the fake filings, the migrants now face deportation from the US.
The 60-year-old is now being held on US$175,000 bail after pleading not guilty to charges including grand larceny, scheme to defraud and falsely appearing as an attorney. He faces a maximum of four years in jail.
In the other matter, three South Florida residents have been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with conducting a Ponzi scheme that collected at least US$14.3 million from hundreds of Haitian-American investors residing in South Florida and New Jersey.
The SEC alleges that Ronnie Eugene Bass Jr, Abner Alabre, Brian Taglieri and their companies, HomePals Investment Club LLC and HomePals LLC (HomePals), conducted the scheme from April 2008 to December 2008 by selling unsecured notes and promising to double investors' money every 90 days.
Tourism officials are reporting that the 16th annual Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) conference and trade show which ended on Thursday, was a resounding success that spells the start of great things to come for Saint Lucia's economy.
Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Senator Hon. Allan Chastanet is commending all the hoteliers, taxi drivers and other individuals who he says represented Saint Lucia with distinction when interacting with the many delegates who attended the conference.
Senator Chastanet says on the heels of the FCCA conference, Saint Lucia is expecting to welcome over seven hundred thousand cruise passengers for the first time.
“We have a lot to be proud of because we have an incredible country. It's time for us to start believing in ourselves because it is time for Saint Lucia to take its rightful place in the world. There is so much that we can deliver, but we just need to work together, believe in each other and understand that we can rise to any level in the world because we have a unique product.”
President of the FCCA Michele Paige is also commending the government and people of Saint Lucia for a job well done in executing the conference at the highest quality.
She says Saint Lucia has now positioned itself to gain tremendously from the cruise industry.
“We have many cruise ships that bring passengers to Saint Lucia. The good news is that from 2005 to 2008, Saint Lucia recorded a seventy five percent increase in cruise ship passengers, so the reason for hosting this conference in Saint Lucia is to improve on those numbers and increase the spending of the passengers and crew and to elaborate on the partnerships between the cruise lines and Saint Lucia. I think all those objectives have been achieved.”
Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Senator Hon. Allan Chastanet is commending all the hoteliers, taxi drivers and other individuals who he says represented Saint Lucia with distinction when interacting with the many delegates who attended the conference.
Senator Chastanet says on the heels of the FCCA conference, Saint Lucia is expecting to welcome over seven hundred thousand cruise passengers for the first time.
“We have a lot to be proud of because we have an incredible country. It's time for us to start believing in ourselves because it is time for Saint Lucia to take its rightful place in the world. There is so much that we can deliver, but we just need to work together, believe in each other and understand that we can rise to any level in the world because we have a unique product.”
President of the FCCA Michele Paige is also commending the government and people of Saint Lucia for a job well done in executing the conference at the highest quality.
She says Saint Lucia has now positioned itself to gain tremendously from the cruise industry.
“We have many cruise ships that bring passengers to Saint Lucia. The good news is that from 2005 to 2008, Saint Lucia recorded a seventy five percent increase in cruise ship passengers, so the reason for hosting this conference in Saint Lucia is to improve on those numbers and increase the spending of the passengers and crew and to elaborate on the partnerships between the cruise lines and Saint Lucia. I think all those objectives have been achieved.”
This week I am in one of my favorite Caribbean destinations, the simply beautiful island of Saint Lucia - the beneficiary of the new JetBlue service which started on Monday, October 26, 2009 and will operate thrice weekly on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays.
Bevan Springer
The new 2,000 mile commute is significant both for Saint Lucians and visitors to the country as airfares have plummeted because of competition on the route, with JetBlue and American Airlines now going toe to toe in the Eastern Caribbean. Earlier in the month, JetBlue also commenced daily service between JFK and Barbados.
On Monday, JetBlue announced a special Saint Lucia airfare as low as US$129 each way, bringing the island within closer reach of Caribbean-Americans in the Diaspora as well as the millions of residents in the Tri-State, some of whom have had to fork up a pretty penny to experience the wonders of this French influenced country - from the majestic Pitons (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) to new and renovated hotels which are offering many bargains this Fall and Winter.
Having curtailed my Caribbean travels significantly this year due in part to a taxing work schedule at home, I got into the Caribbean swing last week when Martinique - which shares the French Creole language with Saint Lucia - sponsored a "French Tuesdays" evening of Creole culture at Nikki Beach in midtown Manhattan.
It was so refreshing to see tourism and government officials from Martinique and Saint Lucia co-mingling, dining and dancing the night away to cadence rhythms - and of course, consuming some thirst quenching refreshments which contributed to a spirited evening for everyone.
What I saw there was the potential power of the unified Caribbean experience. While on board my debut JetBlue flight, I sat next to a honeymoon couple who were heading to the world acclaimed Jade Mountain in Soufrière, ranked number one in the Caribbean and number three in the world according to Travel + Leisure's prestigious annual World's Best Awards survey, the results of which were released this summer.
Muriel Wiltord of the Martinique Promotion Bureau (left) and Lorine St Jules of the Saint Lucia Tourist Board at French Tuesdays in New York City.
Their choices? Bora Bora in French Polynesia or a four-and-a-half hour ride from New York to the Eastern Caribbean to experience a heavenly paradise. Not only was their Caribbean honeymoon going to be more affordable, but it was the convenience that mattered most. JFK to Saint Lucia non-stop, what more could an eager and expectant honeymoon couple ask for?
So who exactly are Barbados and Saint Lucia's competitors?
Martinique? Jamaica? Bahamas? Give up?
Ah ha ....somebody said it: none of the above. They are the destinations that form part of the rest of the world. Yes, even as remote as French Polynesia.
With the Caribbean reaping a meager three percent of the world's tourism arrivals - if so much - we'd better believe it.
We talk a great talk about Caribbean integration and cooperation, but we don't back it up with resources and action. Just a whole lot of committees which are good at keeping the minutes, but great at losing the hours.
To the credit of our regional tourism executives, getting all 30-odd Caribbean countries on the same marketing page is a Herculean task which can sometimes be downright unpleasant. However, given this reality perhaps we should focus more on the promotion of sub-groupings within the region and a multi-destination experience within the sub-groups.
Bevan Springer
The new 2,000 mile commute is significant both for Saint Lucians and visitors to the country as airfares have plummeted because of competition on the route, with JetBlue and American Airlines now going toe to toe in the Eastern Caribbean. Earlier in the month, JetBlue also commenced daily service between JFK and Barbados.
On Monday, JetBlue announced a special Saint Lucia airfare as low as US$129 each way, bringing the island within closer reach of Caribbean-Americans in the Diaspora as well as the millions of residents in the Tri-State, some of whom have had to fork up a pretty penny to experience the wonders of this French influenced country - from the majestic Pitons (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) to new and renovated hotels which are offering many bargains this Fall and Winter.
Having curtailed my Caribbean travels significantly this year due in part to a taxing work schedule at home, I got into the Caribbean swing last week when Martinique - which shares the French Creole language with Saint Lucia - sponsored a "French Tuesdays" evening of Creole culture at Nikki Beach in midtown Manhattan.
It was so refreshing to see tourism and government officials from Martinique and Saint Lucia co-mingling, dining and dancing the night away to cadence rhythms - and of course, consuming some thirst quenching refreshments which contributed to a spirited evening for everyone.
What I saw there was the potential power of the unified Caribbean experience. While on board my debut JetBlue flight, I sat next to a honeymoon couple who were heading to the world acclaimed Jade Mountain in Soufrière, ranked number one in the Caribbean and number three in the world according to Travel + Leisure's prestigious annual World's Best Awards survey, the results of which were released this summer.
Muriel Wiltord of the Martinique Promotion Bureau (left) and Lorine St Jules of the Saint Lucia Tourist Board at French Tuesdays in New York City.
Their choices? Bora Bora in French Polynesia or a four-and-a-half hour ride from New York to the Eastern Caribbean to experience a heavenly paradise. Not only was their Caribbean honeymoon going to be more affordable, but it was the convenience that mattered most. JFK to Saint Lucia non-stop, what more could an eager and expectant honeymoon couple ask for?
So who exactly are Barbados and Saint Lucia's competitors?
Martinique? Jamaica? Bahamas? Give up?
Ah ha ....somebody said it: none of the above. They are the destinations that form part of the rest of the world. Yes, even as remote as French Polynesia.
With the Caribbean reaping a meager three percent of the world's tourism arrivals - if so much - we'd better believe it.
We talk a great talk about Caribbean integration and cooperation, but we don't back it up with resources and action. Just a whole lot of committees which are good at keeping the minutes, but great at losing the hours.
To the credit of our regional tourism executives, getting all 30-odd Caribbean countries on the same marketing page is a Herculean task which can sometimes be downright unpleasant. However, given this reality perhaps we should focus more on the promotion of sub-groupings within the region and a multi-destination experience within the sub-groups.
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