PM Douglas to take legal action against Grant and The Democrat
Senior Counsel Astaphan to lead attorneys…

By Stanford Conway
Editor-in-Chief-SKNVibes.com

Leader of the People’s Action Movement, Lindsay Grant

This action comes in the wake of statements made by Grant in The Democrat and on The Voice of Change Six, accusing Dr. Douglas of corruption with regard to his rental of property to the Embassy of Taiwan and also the corrupt use of the PM’s Office to acquire lands.

“In all of the circumstances, Dr. Douglas has decided that this salacious, scandalous and naked political attack on his reputation as Prime Minister by Lindsay Grant and the People’s Action Movement cannot remain unanswered.

“He has therefore instructed his attorneys in St. Kitts and Nevis and myself as counsel to take whatever lawful action is permitted under the law to ensure that Mr. Grant and The Democrat are made to pay for their reckless and irresponsible allegations in conduct, “ Senior Counsel  Anthony Astaphan said in a statement posted on CUOPM.com.

Astaphan said it is entirely in the public’s interest for elected officials, including prime ministers, to defend their reputation by all means necessary against irresponsible political attacks made by politicians and members of the political opposition.

He stated that a very disturbing trend is taking place in the OECS, whereby political parties in opposition have been fabricating

Anthony Astaphan

The Senior Counsel made reference to St. Lucia’s United Workers Party, which he said sought to label the then PM, Dr. Kenny Anthony, with outrageous allegations of corruption. He also referred to Dominica’s opposition forces, noting they had thrown every conceivable lie at PM Rooosevelt Skerrit.

Additionally, he inferred that a striking similar line of attack is currently taking place in St. Vincent and the Grenadines against PM Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, and that every line of attack against the three politicians were proven false and have been discredited.

Astaphan declared that Grant and the PAM now appear to have joined the bandwagon: “They have fabricated weapons of mass deception directed at the Hon. Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis Dr. Denzil Douglas.
 
They have, in The Democrat and on The Voice of Change Six, deliberately and falsely accused Dr. Douglas of corruption with regard to the rental of property owned by him to the Embassy of Taiwan and the corrupt use of Office of Prime Minister to improperly and corruptly accumulate specific ground and other lands.”

~~Adz:Left~~Douglas’ counsel emphatically stated that the allegations are nothing more than part of an engineered political strategy calculated by the PAM to discredit his client, adding, “The allegation that Dr. Douglas acted corruptly in the rental of his property to Taiwan is false and defamatory.”

He noted that there is no corruption, misfeasance or illegality in the rental of private property by a prime minister to a foreign embassy or government.

 “There is no rule of law whatsoever in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, which prevents or prohibits any elected minister or prime minister from conducting private business while in office. It matters not that a foreign state is involved nor would it matter if integrity in public office legislation is enacted.”

Astaphan posited that corruption, misfeasance and illegality require two essential ingredients, which he pointed out the first to be improper use of office and the property of the Crown, and the second is a dishonest and corrupt intent.

He stated that at no time and under no circumstances was Dr. Douglas in violation of the ingredients in the renting of his property to the Taiwanese, and the allegations made by Grant are in vague, emotional and pejorative terms. 

Astaphan said the PM owns properties and shares in a number of companies in the Federation and the allegation leveled against him of owning Crown or other lands is for a number of reasons manifestly false and defamatory.

“First, Dr. Douglas does not own all of the properties as alleged by Mr. Lindsay Grant in the publication Voice of Change Number Six. Second, Dr. Douglas acquired a number of the properties identified by Mr. Grant prior to becoming the Prime Minister in 1995. These properties were acquired not from the Crown, but from private individuals by means of loans and mortgages from various banking institutions. He also acquired the majority of his shares in the private companies prior to 1995.    ~~Adz:Right~~

“Third, after becoming Prime Minister, Dr. Douglas continued, like any other citizen of the Federation, including Mr. Lindsay Grant, to acquire properties from private individuals. One lot was acquired from the Frigate Bay Development Corporation in the normal course of business and at the going rate…market rate,” Astaphan said.

He also said all of Dr. Douglas’ properties gained after 1995 were acquired through loans, and mortgages secured by titles and most, if not all, were repaid by the rent collected from a number of his properties and business plans presented to various banks. He added that monthly rental payable to Dr. Denzil Douglas exceeds his monthly obligations to the lending institutions.

“Fourth, Dr. Douglas never used the Office of Prime Minister to acquire and has not acquired Crown lands from Central Government, whether corruptly or otherwise. Indeed, the records indicate, more particularly, that Dr. Douglas has never and has not acquired any Crown lands since becoming Minister responsible for Land in 2004,” he said.

Efforts to glean a comment from Grant were futile as SKNVibes was informed that he was not in the Federation.