VIDN_LicenseToSteal

VI_DAILYNEWS/PAGES [A01] | 04/30/12 19:40 | CHESLIKSTE
ONE DOLLAR www.virginislandsdailynews.com ISSN 2159-3019
Copyright © 2012 Daily News Publishing Co. MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2012 81st year, No. 22376
81
License
to stealSpecial 2-month Daily News
investigation discovers how
a man with a criminal record
operated a credit union
in the Virgin Islands
and the V.I. government
did nothing to stop him
Pages 2 to 12
CarnivalCarnival
Pages 28-39Pages 28-39
DailyNewsPhotobyAisha-ZakiyaBoyd

ISSN 2159-3019
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Virgin Islands
DAI EWSLY N81
Gov. John deJongh Jr. picked Wayne Biggs Jr. in March 2009 to
replace Kenrick Robertson as head of the Department of
Licensing and ConsumerAffairs.
Biggs told The Daily News that not long after he took over the
department, he learned that he was responsible for oversight of
non-federally insured credit unions.
“If they are not federally chartered, they are regulated by us,” he
said. “They are licensed by us.”
Biggs also learned that only one of the six credit unions in the
territory does not have federal insurance: That one is Her
Majesty’s Credit Union.
The V.I. law regarding credit unions does not establish any regu-
lations, it simply stipulates which government entity will be in
charge. That agency is the DLCA, and the law makes the commis-
sioner responsible for drafting rules and regulations for credit
unions.
The law went into effect 41 years ago, in 1971, but still the
DLCAhas no rules and regulations for credit unions.
“We’re actually in the process of doing some of that now,”
Biggs said.
The file on HMCU, which The Daily News requested under
the V.I. Open RecordsAct, did not contain copies of any rules or
regulations.
“There are no rules and regulations,”
DLCAcounsel Frederick Norford said.
Biggs said the DLCAdoes not have
the resources or the expertise to properly
oversee Her Majesty’s Credit Union.
Most states find that the National
Credit UnionAdministration’s rules and
regulations work well, and they adopt
those instead of inventing their own.
Biggs, however, has turned instead
to another part of the V.I. government:
the Lt. Governor’s Office Division of
Banking and Insurance.
The two agencies signed a mem-
orandum of understanding on regula-
tion of credit unions in the
territory.
The MOU states the following:
• DLCAwill be solely responsible
for issuing licenses to credit unions
but will do so only after consultation
with the Division of Banking and
Insurance.
•Acredit union must abide by the
standard business licensing applica-
tion process that includes a criminal
background check.
• Acredit union must provide
audited financial statements to the
Division of Banking and
Insurance annually as well as any
other financial reports or informa-
tion required by the director of
the Division of Banking and
Insurance.
• The credit union will be
subject to periodic joint inspec-
tions or examinations.
• The credit union can be
examined every three years or
as often as the DLCAcommissioner deems appropriate for any
violations that could lead to the business license being revoked.
• DLCAwill provide enforcement officers to accompany
Division of Banking and Insurance examiners to investigate com-
plaints or carry out inspections.
• Both agencies shall have full access to and may compel the
production of all the books,
papers, securities, transac-
tions, accounts, records, doc-
uments and assets of each
credit union at any time.
The MOU was signed by
Biggs and Lt. Gov. Gregory
Francis.
It was dated May 5, 2010,
and says the agreement will
expire in two years — just
five days from now.
Biggs said he does not
know exactly what the
DLCA or the Division of
Banking and Insurance
have accomplished con-
cerning HMCU.
Biggs said: “We have not
actively audited. We have
requested some items from them.”
He did not know what they have obtained.
“We have received some items, can’t say exactly what we have
or don’t have, but we have received some stuff,” he said.
“We’ll be auditing the entity once we get all the documentation,”
Biggs said.
What is clear, however, is even after recognizing the need for the
MOU, the V.I. government has done little to protect the savings of
Her Majesty’s Credit Union members.
As part of the business license application, the company is
required to have an insurance bond.
If documentation of the bond exists, it was not in the HMCU file
that DLCAput together in response to The Daily News request for
all documents pertaining to HMCU.
“My understanding is that we have a copy of that in the file
in the office,” Biggs said, adding that legal counsel would have
to determine whether such a document is considered public
information.
Regardless, an insurance bond is not the same thing as share
insurance, which would protect the credit union members’money.
Her Majesty’s Credit Union does not have share insurance and
under both the V.I. Code and the MOU, share insurance is not
required.
Banking and Insurance Director John McDonald said the law
should be changed to move credit union regulation under his
division.
LICENSE TO STEAL
DLCA, Lt. Governor and Legislature ignore
their duty to control a renegade credit union
DLCA Commissioner
Wayne Biggs Jr.
A SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORT BY DAILY NEWS REPORTER ALDETH LEWIN
2 The Virgin Islands Daily News Monday, April 30, 2012

LICENSE TO STEAL
The Virgin Islands Government’s lax oversight and loose laws put
Virgin Islands residents at risk of losing their life savings.
Trusting the government to have rules and regulations for financial
institutions, a number of people deposited their money into a new credit
union — but when they go to make a withdrawal, they get excuses,
evasions and lies.
What they don’t get is their money.
Her Majesty’s Credit Union, a newcomer among financial operations in
the territory, identified itself on its website as a reputable business
headquartered in Denver.
Neither claim was true.
HMCU’s home office is beside a rural Colorado airstrip in the middle of
nowhere.
It is operated by a man with a criminal record, multiple aliases and a
history of failed business ventures.
He currently is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, and has been jailed in the past for refusing to cooperate
with state investigators in Colorado looking into possible fraud.
A two-month investigation by The Daily News has focused on the ways
the V.I. government fails to prevent the plundering of local depositors’
savings.
The newspaper’s search for information extended to three states and
ultimately produced a clear picture of how inadequately the V.I.
government serves or protects the people of the territory.
Feds take
a close look;
V.I. government
looks away
While the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission has been busy cracking
down on Her Majesty’s Credit Union, the V.I.
government has assuming nothing is wrong
despite its own failure to do any oversight.
Department of Licensing and Consumer
Affairs Commissioner Wayne Biggs Jr. said
there is “no indication” the credit union is steal-
ing people’s money.
The SEC — the federal agency responsible
for enforcing the federal laws regulating the
securities industry, the nation’s stock exchang-
es, and other electronic securities markets —
believes otherwise.
On Jan. 9, the SEC issued a formal order for
an investigation “In the matter of Her Majesty’s
Credit Union” and on Jan. 13, Jan. 25, Jan. 26
and March 9, the SEC served HMCU and its
operators with subpoenas for documents and
testimony.
Her Majesty’s Credit Union ignored them.
Running out of patience with HMCU’s delay
tactics, the SEC on March 22 asked a federal
judge in Denver to compel HMCU to produce
those financial records.
“It is a subpoena enforcement action,” said
Chris Friedman, an attorney in the SEC’s
Denver office.
The court filing reveals that the targets of the
SEC investigation are Stanley McDuffie (also
known as Stanley Roberson and Stanley Battle)
John Williams and Jilapuhn, doing business as
Her Majesty’s Credit Union.
The SEC states in the filing that Her
Majesty’s Credit Union is a trade name under
which Jilapuhn is conducting business in
Colorado — even though HMCU has never
been chartered as a credit union in Colorado, or
in any other state, by the National Credit Union
Administration.
The SEC has honed in on how the V.I. gov-
ernment’s licensing of HMCU is a gateway for
illegal activity elsewhere.
“Since at least 2008, HMCU has purportedly
transacted business as a credit union over the
Internet and from at least one office in the U.S.
Virgin Islands. HMCU claims to be chartered
by the U.S. Virgin Islands,” the SEC filing
says.
Court documents show that the SEC is going
after possible violations of federal anti-fraud
provisions, specifically in connection with
HMCU’s offer, purchase or sale of high-yield-
ing certificates of deposit.
“The commission staff are also investigating
whether respondents and others made mislead-
ing statements or omissions regarding HMCU by
materially misrepresenting, among other things,
the safety and return rates of the investments,
and the use of the investor proceeds,” the SEC
says in the filing.
See LICENSE, next page
License to steal
Photos provided by FULTON COUNTY, GA.,
SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
Stan McDuffie
Chief Executive Officer of
Jilapuhn and HMCU since 2010
Stan Roberson
Chief Executive Officer of
Jilapuhn and HMCU before
2010, Jailed for failing to
provide documents
Stanley Battle
Pleaded guilty to one one
misdemeanor count of
embezzling public
money/property
Stanley Roberson-Battle
Filed for bankruptcy in 1992;
charged with deposit account
fraud in 2006
See SEC, next page
Monday, April 30, 2012 The Virgin Islands Daily News 3

HMCU has a history of offering to sell
—by advertising on Google and eBay —
credit union certificates of deposit that it
promised would earn the buyer up to 7.75
percent interest. The buyer did not even
have to be a member of the credit union,
the ads said.
The state of Colorado tried to investigate
in 2010, but Stan Roberson, the man who
created and operated Her Majesty’s Credit
Union, opted to go to jail rather than open
HMCU’s financial books.
Roberson’s legal troubles arising from
financial schemes go back to 2006 and
even earlier, to 1994. Both times were in
Georgia. Each time he used a different
identity.
In 2006, the National Credit Union
Administration, which is the federal credit
union independent oversight agency, seized
a credit union that Roberson, who also uses
the surnames Battle, McDuffie and
Roberson-Battle, had started in Georgia just
a few months earlier. NCUA immediately
shut down the credit union, which he had
named Jilapuhn, and liquidated the assets.
Roberson was arrested and charged with
deposit account fraud.
Even earlier, in 1994 while he was still a
college student, he pleaded guilty in federal
court to embezzlement. He was sentenced to
jail, given two years’ probation and was
ordered to pay the U.S. Postal Service
$4,279.97 in restitution.
Now in 2012, even in the safe haven that
Stan Battle/McDuffie/Roberson/Roberson-
Battle discovered in the Virgin Islands, he and
his credit union are under intense scrutiny —
but by the feds, not by the V.I. government.
For two years, V.I. government officials have known they
are not doing a good enough job regulating HMCU credit
union — yet they have done little to change that.
Now the credit union’s St. Thomas office is dark, the door
is locked and the credit union members have no access to
their money.
Her Majesty’s Credit Union is a subsidiary of a company
called Jilapuhn, which in 2005 registered as a corporation in
the V.I. Lt. Governor’s Office Division of Corporations and
Trademarks.
That corporation is not in good standing.
Jilapuhn filed a certificate of trade name for Her Majesty’s
Credit Union in 2007 but did not file articles of incorporation
papers for HMCU until Sept. 28, 2010.
The V.I. Lt. Governor’s Office found the filing to be defi-
cient and did not approve the corporation.
Lies and loopholes
The V.I. Code puts the Department of Licensing and
Consumer Affairs in charge of regulating credit unions’ activ-
ity in the territory — yet the DLCA has no rules governing
credit unions.
In contrast, V.I. law puts the Lt. Governor’s Office
Division of Banking and Insurance in charge of regulating all
banks and other financial institutions in the territory. The
division has extensive rules and enforcement apparatus.
The credit union loophole originated In 1969, when the 8th
V.I. Legislature added a new chapter to the V.I. Code to gov-
ern incorporation, regulation, management and control of co-
operative corporations, which are ones owned and run by
their members.
In 1971, the V.I. Legislature amended the law to make the
director of the Consumer Services Administration — which
later became the DLCA — responsible for regulating co-
operatives and, specifically, credit unions. The amendment
gave the director the authority to create rules and regulations
for that purpose.
Now, 41 years later, the government has no credit union
rules and regulations and has never drafted any.
Hiding behind Jesus
Jilapuhn stands for “Jesus is Lord all praise unto his
name,” and its use as a business name by a financial institu-
tion could inspire confidence among religious customers.
Jilapuhn’s website spells out the name and quotes scripture.
Jilapuhn filed for a business license with DLCA in 2005
and in 2008 received a DLCA license to operate a credit
union in the territory. Under the name Her Majesty’s Credit
Union, it opened in a storefront inside the Tutu Park Mall on
St. Thomas.
Since then, HMCU has made numerous false claims in
order to appear legitimate.
At first, the credit union claimed that it was insured by
Lloyd’s of London.
It was not.
HMCU plastered its bank statements and website with the
America’s Credit Unions logo, implying it was a member of
the Credit Union National Association.
It was not.
HMCU advertised on its website that it was regulated by
the V.I. Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs.
DLCA does nothing to regulate the credit union.
In the meantime, people were trusting their money to a con
man who was operating without scrutiny in the Virgin
Islands.
One man, many names
Stan McDuffie is the Chief Executive Officer of Jilapuhn
and HMCU. He replaced Stan Roberson, who was jailed in
2010 for failing to comply with a federal investigation into
the credit union.
They are the same person.
He also goes by the names Stanley Roberson-Battle and
Stanley Battle.
He changes his name every time he gets into trouble.
Stanley Bernard Battle was born March 7, 1966, in
Washington, D.C. He graduated from M.D. Collins High
School in College Park, Ga., in 1984.
In July 1992, he filed for bankruptcy in Montgomery, Ala,.
under the name Stanley Bernard Roberson-Battle.
In 1994, under the name Stanley B. Battle, he pleaded
guilty in federal court in Atlanta to one misdemeanor count
of embezzling.
He was sentenced to two years probation, a $500 fine and
ordered to pay $4,279.97 in restitution to the U.S. Postal
Service.
Also in 1994, under the name Stan Roberson-Battle, he
received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Auburn
University at Montgomery, Ala.; in 1995, he received a mas-
ter’s degree in human resource management from Troy State
University in Montgomery.
Who and what
is Jilapuhn?
Corporate information about Jilapuhn and its
subsidiaries is murky.
Many of the same people — most of them part
of the same family — have positions in every
company.
The website for Her Majesty’s Credit Union
does not list the board of directors.
Its parent company, Jilapuhn, does not list a
board of directors on its website, but one of its
subsidiaries, Stateside Communications, filed an
application with the Idaho Public Utilities
Commission in April 2010 and listed the Jilapuhn
executives and the board of directors as:
Officers
CEO — Stan Roberson
CFO — Cresandra Battle
President — Valerie Wilson
Comptroller — John Wesley Williams
Board of Directors
Robert McDuffie, Washington, D.C., chairman
Barry Butler, Columbus, S.C.
Patrick Masicot, St. Thomas, V.I.
Yolanda Watt, Richton Park, Ill.
The Daily News found that Stan Roberson,
Cresandra Battle, Valerie Wilson, John Wesley
Williams and Yolanda Watts all are related.
Cresandra Battle is John Wesley Williams’
mother.
John Wesley Williams is Yolanda Watts’brother.
Valerie Wilson is related to Stanley Bernard
Roberson, who is related to Cresandra Battle.
On the Jilapuhn articles of incorporation filed
with the V.I. Lt. Governor’s Office Division of
Corporations and Trademarks, the three incorpo-
rators are Stan Roberson, Cresandra Battle and
Valerie Wilson.
The business license issued by DLCA to
Jilapuhn doing business as Her Majesty’s Credit
Union also lists Stan Roberson, Cresandra Battle
and Valerie Wilson.
The Daily found that the information Jilapuhn
submitted to Idaho had many errors, including:
Patrick Massicot’s name is misspelled as
Masicot.
Barry Butler’s address is given as Columbus,
S.C., which is a town that does not exist.
Yolanda Watts’ name is misspelled as Watt.
LICENSE TO STEAL
SEC
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
HMCU’s target is people from Caribbean islands, as indicated by its slogan: “Dem
people, dem credit union.” It seeks to appeal to people who have confidence in British
connections. Its full name is Her Majesty’s Credit Union, although it has no connection
to the queen of England — and it falsely claims to have Lloyd’s of London insurance. It
seeks to inspire trust by spelling out on its website and literature the name its parent
company has chosen, Jilapuhn: “Jesus is Lord all praises unto his name.”
LICENSE

Terms to knowCredit Union: A credit union is a nonprofit
financial institution that is governed by
its members. It can be state chartered
or federally chartered and must provide
its members with share insurance. The
difference between credit unions and banks
is that credit unions have shares, whereas
banks have deposits. Banks are for-profit
companies, while credit unions are not-for-
profit companies. Whereas banks charge
interest on loans, collect fees and penalties
and reinvest all that to make more money,
credit unions are owned by their members
(account holders), and any profit made is
paid back to members or reinvested into their
organization. Credit unions have a defined
membership, such as an employee group. The
members elect the officers, and the officers
are accountable to the members.
CUNA: The Credit Union National Association,
a trade association for credit unions.
Federal credit union: A credit union chartered,
insured and regulated by the federal
government.
FDIC: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
established in 1933 to give bank depositors
confidence their money was safe. FDIC
insures bank customers’ deposits up to
$250,000 per individual per bank.
HMCU: Her Majesty’s Credit Union, an
unregulated, uninsured, unincorporated
business that claims to be a genuine credit
union but does not follow standard credit
union standards and practices.
Jilapuhn: Stands for “Jesus is Lord all praises
unto his name.” It is doing business in the
Virgin Islands as Her Majesty’s Credit Union.
NCUA: The National Credit Union
Administration. The NCUA is the
independent federal agency that charters
and supervises federal credit unions. NCUA
operates the National Credit Union Share
Insurance Fund, which insures the savings
of federal credit union members. It is not
to be confused with Credit Union National
Association, CUNA, the trade confederation
of thousands of individual credit unions.
Securities: Financial instruments such as
stocks, bonds and certificates of deposit.
They cannot be sold legally unless they are
registered with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. To sell or attempt to sell a
security before it is registered is a felony.
SEC: Securities and Exchange Commission. It
is the agency responsible for enforcing the
federal laws regulating the securities industry,
the nation’s stock exchanges and electronic
securities markets.
Unregistered securities: Stocks, bonds,
certificates of deposit and other financial
investment instruments that are not registered
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
To sell or attempt to sell a financial security
before it is registered is a felony.
State-chartered credit union: A credit union that
is regulated by the state in which it is located
and is subject to the laws of that state. Some
state-chartered credit unions are privately
insured, some are federally insured.
LICENSE TO STEAL
Daily News Photo by AISHA-ZAKIYA BOYD
Her Majesty’s Credit Union’s office in Tutu Park Mall is now closed.
Despite his prior embezzlement conviction and bankruptcy, in
1997 he applied for a job with BellSouth Telecommunications in
Atlanta and claims to have worked there until 2000.
He did something else in 1997. He created what would
become his most ambitious venture: Jilapuhn.
Credit union failure No. 1
Using the name Stan Roberson, in 2005 he opened Jilapuhn
Federal Credit Union in East Point, Ga. As a federal credit
union, it was backed by the full faith and credit of the federal
government, and therefore it was regulated by the National
Credit Union Administration.
The NCUA is the independent agency that charters and super-
vises federal credit unions. NCUA operates the National Credit
Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the savings of fed-
eral credit union members.
Jilapuhn Federal Credit Union was in operation less than a year
before the NCUA seized control and liquidated it, and on Aug. 12,
2006, Stan Roberson-Battle was arrested by the East Point Police
Department and charged with deposit account fraud.
According to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, he listed
his occupation as “computer tech,” and he said he was a resident
of Hampton, Ga. After serving three days, he was released from
the Fulton County Jail on Aug. 15, 2006, on a $250 cash bond.
The Fulton County Superior Court said it could not provide infor-
mation about the disposition of the case in time for this report.
“NCUA assumed control of Jilapuhn FCU’s operations on
August 26, 2005, after determining the credit union had an
impaired capital position and was experiencing irresolvable
problems in the areas of capital adequacy, cash management,
record keeping and management,” the NCUA announced in a
2005 news release.
According to the NCUA, Jilapuhn Federal Credit Union had
less than 200 members and assets of less than $150,000.
Because that credit union in Georgia was insured by the fed-
eral government — up to $100,000 per account — depositors
were able to recover their funds after the shutdown.
Virgin Islands depositors have not been so lucky.
Her Majesty’s Credit Union
The failure of Jilapuhn Federal Credit Union in Georgia did
not stop Stan Roberson from trying again. He set his sights on
the Virgin Islands, where he discovered that a lax government
would allow him to take people’s money without any oversight.
In 2005, he applied for a V.I. business license, but he said it
was for a communications company, not a credit union. That
application was for Jilapuhn Inc., doing business as Jita
Communications. Yet instead of a license for that company, he
received a license for Jilapuhn, doing business as Her Majesty’s
Credit Union. That business license was issued in 2008, DLCA
Director of Licensing Knolah Nicholls-Thomas said.
The Daily News requested a copy of the complete business
license file and application — which under V.I. Law is public
information — but DLCA was slow to respond and would not
disclose everything in the file.
DLCA attorney Fredrick Norford said some documents were
being withheld because, he claimed, the entity is under investi-
gation by the Virgin Islands Inspector General’s Office.
V.I. Inspector General Steven van Beverhoudt, said he would
not comment on that claim.
The documents that DLCAdid provide show Stan Roberson has
been allowed to renew his business license every year since 2008.
His current business license does not expire untilAug. 31, 2012.
Police did not look
Roberson’s application process at the DLCA required the V.I.
Police Department to conduct a criminal background check on
him. In November 2005, the department did the check. The
name they looked for was Stanley B. Roberson, and they found
no criminal record for him.
They never took his fingerprints. They never looked outside
the Virgin Islands.
The only thing the V.I. Police Department did was search its
own files, and because Roberson had not been operating in the
territory at that point, they found nothing.
LICENSE

Athorough background check, of the type that would be appropri-
ate for someone running a financial institution, would have included
a national search using NCIC, the National Crime Information
Center.
The Police Department’s inadequate investigation and lack of ini-
tiative spotlights yet another V.I. government loophole that allows
criminals to find shelter in the territory.
The DLCAfile on Roberson and Jilapuhn shows no further crimi-
nal background checks after 2005. If the DLCAhad conducted addi-
tional, and more thorough, background checks on Stan Roberson,
the agency would have found reason to deny him a license to oper-
ate an uninsured credit union.
Trouble in Colorado
In 2004, a year before setting his sights on
the Virgin islands, Roberson had registered
Jilapuhn as a corporation in Colorado. Under
that umbrella name, he also registered Stateside
Communications, Tradewinds Financial and
Her Majesty’s Credit Union.
In 2010, Her Majesty’s Credit Union caught
the eye of Colorado State Securities
Commissioner Fred Joseph, who told The
Daily News that he saw some ads on Google
promising 7.75 percent returns on certificates
of deposit. Because 7.75 percent is an unusual-
ly high interest rate on a CD, Joseph suspected it was a scam.
He also suspected that Her Majesty’s Credit Union was selling
unregistered securities — an illegal practice under federal law, pun-
ishable as a felony.
“The accounts they had were not federally insured, so what they
were issuing seemed to be promissory notes, and they’re not regis-
tered securities,” Joseph said.
Joseph noticed, too, that while the credit union was operating in
the Virgin Islands, its “processing center” was located in Colorado.
Joseph subpoenaed a long list of documents and information from
Stan Roberson.
Roberson refused to comply.
And suddenly Roberson was gone and Her Majesty’s Credit
Union had a new CEO: John Wesley Williams.
Williams took a defiant stance. In a letter to his attorney, Steve
Feder, dated Oct. 12, 2010, Williams sought to use the Virgin Islands
business license as a weapon to try to block Colorado’s probe and to
claim that Colorado had no regulatory jurisdiction over Her
Williams said that based on a May 2010 memorandum of under-
standing between the Virgin Islands DLCAand the Lt. Governor’s
Office, HMCU must follow all rules and regulations of the National
Credit UnionAdministration. “The NCUAdoes not permit corpora-
tions to own or be a holding company for any credit union whether
state or federally regulated,” Williams wrote.
The thrust of his argument was that the Jilapuhn corporation reg-
istered in Colorado could not legally own Her Majesty’s Credit
Union in the Virgin Islands.
“This institution will not provide any documents to any state
court, state government, representative of such nor any official of
Jilapuhn Inc. as these parties do not have proper authorization to
view such documents,” he wrote.
“Please understand that Mr. Roberson and Jilapuhn, Inc. do not
represent the interest of HMCU in any capacity and are not autho-
rized by this institution to do so,” Williams wrote.
Williams pressed his argument further by asserting that no
employees of HMCU were located in Denver. However, Williams
himself, the HMCU chief executive officer, was living in Denver
at that time and has lived there for at least the last three years.
The Daily News searched public records for any addresses for
Williams outside Colorado and found none.
AColorado judge did not agree with Williams’position on juris-
diction and found Stan Roberson in contempt of court for failing to
produce the credit union documents the statehad subpoenaed.
Roberson still would not turn over the documents, and on Dec.
9, 2010, a state judge sentenced him to six months in the Denver
County Jail.
The National Credit UnionAssociation then issued a “notice of
prohibition” barring Stan Roberson from any future involvement in
a federally regulated or insured credit union.
Roberson then made a deal. He told the judge that he would pro-
vide the documents the investigators sought, and he got out of jail
after a month of his sentence.
He did not fulfill his side of the deal.
Roberson produced some — but not all — of the documents he
promised, Joseph said.
Roberson then shifted to a different deception, leading Joseph to
think that the trouble was over.
“He closed the operation here in Colorado,” Joseph said.
That did not turn out to be accurate.
He simply moved Jilapuhn’s corporate offices — out of sight to a
small airstrip in the middle of nowhere.
And Stan Roberson turned into Stan McDuffie.
LICENSE TO STEAL
What happened when?
July 1992: Stanley Bernard Roberson-Battle files
for personal bankruptcy in Montgomery, Ala.
April 1994: Stanley B. Battle pleads guilty in
federal court in Atlanta to one misdemeanor
count of embezzling. He is sentenced to two
years’ probation, a $500 fine and ordered to pay
$4,279.97 in restitution.
December 1997: Jilapuhn Inc. is registered as a
corporation with the Georgia Secretary of State.
February 2004: Jilapuhn is registered as a
corporation with the Colorado Secretary of State.
January 2005: Jilapuhn Federal Credit Union
opens in East Point, Ga.
March 2005: Jilapuhn files articles of
incorporation with the V.I. Lt. Governor’s Office.
August 2005: The National Credit Union
Administration shuts down Jilapuhn Federal
Credit Union.
September 2005: Jilapuhn is issued a certificate
of incorporation by the V.I. Lt. Governor’s Office
for the purpose of banking and communications.
November 2005: Jilapuhn doing business as Jita
Communications applies for a business license
from the V.I. Department of Licensing and
Consumer Affairs.
August 2006: Stanley B. Roberson-Battle is
arrested in East Point, Ga., and charged with
deposit account fraud.
October 2007: Jilapuhn files and receives a
certificate of trade name for Her Majesty’s Credit
Union from the Lt. Governor’s Office.
August 2008: Jilapuhn doing business as
Her Majesty’s Credit Union is licensed by V.I.
Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs
for credit union services.
May 2010: The Lt. Governor’s Office Division of
Banking and Insurance signs a memorandum
of understanding with the V.I. Department of
Licensing and Consumer Affairs about methods
to regulate credit unions in the territory.
September 2010: Her Majesty’s Credit Union
files articles of incorporation with the Lt.
Governor’s Office, which finds the articles
deficient, and does not accept them.
December 2010: Stan Roberson is found
guilty of contempt of court for failing to
produce documents to the Colorado Securities
Commission and sentenced to 180 days in jail.
June 2011: The National Credit Union
Administration board issues an order prohibiting
Stan Roberson from being involved in any
federally insured credit union.
January 2012: The U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission issues a formal order for
an investigation “In the matter of Her Majesty’s
Credit Union.”
March 2012: Tutu Park Limited files a lawsuit
against Her Majesty’s Credit Union in V.I.
Superior Court for breach of contract. The credit
union has not paid rent since December 2010
and owes $37,595.71 in back rent and fees.
March 2012: The U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission asks a federal judge to enforce
the subpoenas previously issued for documents
from Jilapuhn and Her Majesty’s Credit Union.
May 6, 2012: The MOU between the
Lt. Governor’s Office and DLCA expires.
Fred Joseph
Daily News Photo by SEAN McCOY
Until a Daily News photographer visited Her Majesty’s Credit Union’s office in Colorado, the company’s website claimed its corporate
offices were in busy commercial complex in Denver. In reality, it turned out to be in a tiny office in a building by a rural airstrip.
LICENSE

A sign in the window
Kendra Prosper opened a savings account at HMCU in the
Tutu Park Mall on Feb. 26, 2011. Prosper came to St. Thomas
from Dominica 10 years ago. She has a green card, and until
last month, her income came from cleaning houses. Now she
provides in-home care to an elderly man.
Prosper said a friend told her about Her Majesty’s Credit
Union, so she went to the mall to check it out. She said she was
looking for a place to open a savings account, and she liked that
HMCU did not offerATM cards so she would not be tempted to
spend her savings.
“At first it was OK,” she said, but then HMCU began provid-
ing excuses instead of money.
In a March 30 interview, she said: “When I went three weeks
ago to get some money, the lady said ‘the system is down.’“And
every time, I keep on going, ‘the system is still down.’”
Prosper said the branch had two employees at first, but in
January, branch manager Gwenneth Clarke told Prosper she had
to fire the other teller.
When “the system went down” and stayed down, Prosper
said, Clarke began to use carbon copy deposit slips instead of the
official looking printed statements the credit union previously
issued for each transaction.
Prosper said Clarke accepted money from credit union
members but would not let members withdraw from their
accounts.
Clarke has refused to talk with The Daily News about HMCU.
Then one day in February, Prosper and other HMCU
members showed up and found the door to HMCU was
locked and the lights were off.
Asign taped to the office window gave instructions that raised
suspicions.
“Please note. This branch is temporarily closed due to the ill-
ness of the Branch Employee. For all transactions please call
1-888-920-0824 or go online and utilize online banking for
transactions requests at www.hmcu.net. Please check account
statements for further updates. We apologize for the inconve-
nience. Signed, CEO Stan McDuffie.”
Prosper, who needed to withdraw some of her money, did
what the sign said, only to discover it led nowhere.
“The number they had on the door, it wasn’t working at all,”
Prosper said.
All it did was provide a taped welcome message and sales
pitches for HMCU.
She went to the website and eventually tracked down a
Colorado phone number for Jilapuhn.After leaving a number of
messages for the CEO, who was going by the name Stan
McDuffie, she finally got him on the phone.
“He said if I have money to save, I could send it to the Denver,
Colorado branch,” Prosper said.
However, there is no Colorado branch for HMCU.
Prosper said Stan McDuffie also sought to reassure her by
saying that HMCU would be opening a new branch on St.
Thomas on May 1. At first, he said it would be on Norre
Gade. Then he said it would be in Palm Passage, she said.
Prosper was fed up, so she asked McDuffie to send her the
balance in her account, which was about $565, and then close
the account.
He told her he would send her a check, she said.
She asked him instead to wire her the money through Western
Union or MoneyGram, but he told her he did not have an
account with those businesses.
In addition to dodging her demand for her money, McDuffie
— who actually is Stan Roberson — would not relinquish his
hold on it.
“He told me he’s not closing out my account so when they
open the new branch, I ‘could go ahead,’” and continue doing
business with HMCU, Prosper said.
Now, a month later, there are no indications that HMCU is
opening a new branch anywhere on St. Thomas — and
Prosper still has not received her money and wonders wheth-
er she ever will.
“This man,” Prosper said, slowly, shaking her head in doubt.
“I don’t know. I don’t know.”
Another depositor, Elizabeth George, a newcomer to St.
Thomas from Dominica, also told The Daily News that she fears
she never will see her savings again.
George opened her account at Her Majesty’s Credit Union in
January. She was told the “system is down,” but she was not yet
suspicious. She made two deposits, one on Jan. 12, 2012, for
$210 and one on Feb. 3, 2012, for $400.
When a friend told her the credit union had closed down, she
went to the HMCU office at the mall to take her savings out.
Like Prosper, George was determined to get her money.
She, too, called Stan McDuffie in Colorado, and she heard a
story similar to the one he told Prosper.
George said McDuffie assured her that HMCU was still
in business and was preparing to open a new branch
downtown.
LICENSE TO STEAL
At first, Her Majesty’s Credit Union deposit slips were computerized, bottom sample, but by January HMCU’s only employee
claimed the computers were down and switched to using carbon copies, top sample.The Daily News has redacted parts of these
deposit slips to protect the account holder’s identity.
LICENSE

LICENSE TO STEAL
She said he promised to send her a check for the
balance in her account.
The check has not arrived, and George is desperate.
“I need my money,” George said. “I’m less than a
year here. I don’t have a steady job.”
She said she chose Her Majesty’s Credit Union as
the place to open a savings account because she heard
that banks require a minimum balance or a minimum
amount to open the account. She said the credit
unions in her native Dominica always seemed to be
good, so she thought she could trust Her Majesty’s
Credit Union.
After she opened her account, she told her sister
about it. “She asked me, ‘you think the credit union
safe?’ I said, ‘I think so,’” George said.
“I hope we can get our money back.”
HMCU’s explanation
Stan McDuffie told The Daily News on March 23
that a new HMCU branch would open in a few
weeks.
“The branch is temporarily closed because we only
had one employee there,” he said. “We will be open-
ing up May 1.”
He said the employee’s departure was sudden and
no one had a chance to tell the credit union’s mem-
bers what was going on.
“It hit us by surprise as well,” Stan McDuffie said,
then he added: “That’s really all I can say right now, I
don’t want to get into talking and say something I
shouldn’t.”
What he did not disclose to the credit union deposi-
tors or The Daily News was that HMCU’s landlord,
Tutu Park Ltd., had taken legal action against HMCU.
On March 13, Tutu Park filed a civil lawsuit in V.I.
Superior Court against Jilapuhn Inc. seeking action
for breach of contract and debt.
Tutu Park states in the suit that HMCU is “substan-
tially delinquent” in its lease obligations and as of
Jan. 1, 2012, owed $37,595.71, not including fees and
interest.
According to a statement dated Jan. 4, the last rent
payment the credit union made was in December
2010 for $966.33.
The case has been assigned to V.I. Superior Court
Judge Michael Dunston.
To date, the court has received no reply from
defendant HMCU.
At the airport
On March 22, a Daily News reporter visited the
two Colorado locations that HMCU listed on its
website. The first one, at 12015 East 46th Ave.
The corporate headquarters for Jilapuhn, Her Majesty’s Credit Union’s parent company, in Colorado.
LICENSE

LICENSE TO STEAL
Today,April 30
Carnival Victory (2,758) 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Havensight
Summit (1,950) 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Havensight
Tuesday, May 1
Carnival Liberty (2,974) 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Havensight
Wednesday, May 2
Constellation (1,950) 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Havensight
Allure of the Seas (5,400) 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Crown Bay
Thursday, May 3
Carnival Valor (2,974) 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Havensight
Friday-Sunday, May 4-6
No ships
Monday, May 7
Carnival Victory (2,758) 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Havensight
Tuesday, May 8
Carnival Dream (3,646) 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Havensight
Oasis of the Seas (5,400) 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Crown Bay
The rural Colorado road leading to the corporate headquarters of Jilapuhn Inc., the parent company of Her Majesty’s
Credit Union.
in Denver, is an office complex occupied by a
number of businesses — none of which are Her
Majesty’s Credit Union or Jilapuhn.
Those names are not on the building’s directory.
When reached by phone, Stan McDuffie told
The Daily News that the Denver location had been
closed and the corporate offices were now “consol-
idated” into a single office.
The Daily News reporter located the new office,
but it is not at a metropolitan center. Open fields
surround a small building alongside a lonely,
windswept airstrip optimistically named Front
Range Regional Airport.
A truck stop near an Interstate 70 exit, about
three miles from the airport, is one of the few busi-
nesses nearby.
At the airport, the only trace of HMCU was the
name Jilapuhn on a sign at 37397 Cessna Way.
The door was locked, but parked in front of the
building was a Jeep with specialty Alpha Phi Alpha
fraternity Virgin Islands license plates and an
Auburn University wheel cover on the spare tire.
A man who identified himself as “Mr.
McDuffie” responded to a knock on the door. His
face matches the police mug shot of Stan
Roberson-Battle taken after his Georgia arrest in
2006.
McDuffie said he lived in Colorado full-time. He
declined to answer questions about Her Majesty’s
Credit Union. He said the company would issue a
press release the next day.
It did not.
McDuffie later said that on April 6 he would
hold a videotaped conversation in his attorney’s
office in Golden, Colo., in which he promised he
would discuss litigation that the credit union would
have filed in federal court by then.
“A lot of what I have is going to implicate a lot of
people,” he said. “There is more going on with us
than most of our members understand.”
April 6 has come and gone, and to date, the prom-
ised litigation has not materialized. No lawsuits
have been filed by Jilapuhn, Her Majesty’s Credit
Union or Stan McDuffie.
— Sean McCoy contributed to this report.
Contact reporter Aldeth Lewin at 340-714-9111 or
email alewin@dailynews.vi.
LICENSE

LICENSE TO STEAL
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Powerball (April 29) Next draw: Wednesday
31 39 40 57 58 Powerball: 33
Caribbean Lottery
Starting and operating a credit union in the V.I.
Her Majesty’s Credit Union does
not operate like other credit
unions.
It does not have insurance.
It does not operate under any gov-
ernment regulations.
It does not have a member-elected
board of directors.
It does not have regular member-
ship meetings.
It does not release financial records
to investigators or regulators at the
federal, state and territorial levels.
Yet for almost three years, HMCU
has been taking money from Virgin
Islands residents, with the blessing
of the V.I. government.
An independent federal agency
that charters and supervises federal
credit unions, the National Credit
Union Administration operates the
National Credit Union Share
Insurance Fund, which insures the
savings of federal credit union mem-
bers. The National Credit Union
Share Insurance Fund for credit
unions is the equivalent of the
Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation for banks. FDIC does
not insure credit unions.
The difference between credit
unions and banks is that credit
unions have shares, whereas banks
have deposits.
NCUA Public Affairs Specialist
John Zimmerman said credit unions
originated with employee groups as
a way to provide financial services
that they might not have been able to
get from a bank.
Credit union membership can be
set by geography, career group, or
association.
Credit unions do not have any
stock, so any profit they make gets
reinvested into the credit union.
“That results in higher rates on
savings and lower rates on loans,”
Zimmerman said.
Because credit unions are nonprof-
its, they are tax exempt. The tax sav-
ing goes to the credit union members.
Credit unions generally are very
well-capitalized, Zimmerman said.
At the end of last year, 7,094 cred-
it unions were operating in the
United States. Of those, 4,447 are
federally chartered and 2,647 are
state chartered.
Each credit union is governed by a
volunteer board of directors, elected
by the credit union’s members and
accountable for the institution. Board
members decide on fees, interest
rates and services the credit union
will provide.
“Credit unions are nonprofits, and
they really spend a lot of time and
energy trying to figure out what’s in
the best interest of their members,”
Zimmerman said.
Five of the six credit unions in the
Virgin Islands comply with the
Federal Credit Union Act.
Her Majesty’s Credit Union does
not.
Each state has a credit union law,
“which usually is fairly similar to the
federal act,” Zimmerman said.
The Virgin Islands does not.
In some states, credit unions are
state chartered and regulated by the
state. “But in the majority of states
— by statute, by state law — the
credit union has to be insured by the
federal government,” Zimmerman
said.
In contrast, the Virgin Islands does
not have comprehensive legislation
governing credit unions. It simply
directs the Department of Licensing
and Consumer Affairs to draft rules
and regulations for credit unions.
That law was passed in 1971, but to
date, no rules and regulations exist.
In the states — unlike in the Virgin
Islands — credit unions are not
allowed to operate without insurance.
Lori Solberg, vice-president of
sales and marketing at American
Share Insurance, said that if a credit
union in the states is not insured by
the National Credit Union
Association, then it must be insured
by American Share Insurance.
“They can’t be in business. They
have to be insured by one or the
other. Without insurance, they can-
not operate,” Solberg said.
American Share Insurance is a
nonprofit, owned by its credit union
members. “We are an insurer only.
We are not a regulator,” Solberg said.
American Share Insurance cannot
insure a credit union in the Virgin
Islands because American Share is
not authorized to operate outside the
United States mainland.
When Her Majesty’s Credit Union
Other credit unions
in the Virgin Islands
• Christiansted Federal Credit Union
• Frederiksted Federal Credit Union
• Mid-Island Federal Credit Union
• St. Thomas Federal Credit Union
• Vitelco Credit Union
All five of these credit unions are legitimate. They are regulated
and insured by the National Credit Union Administration. All are
nonprofit corporations registered with the V.I. Lt. Governor’s
Office. HMCU is not.
See STARTING, next page

LICENSE TO STEAL
first opened its doors to the public, it
claimed it was privately insured by
Lloyd’s of London. In a sales letter to
what it termed “future members,”
HMCU stated: “Your funds are insured
up to $100,000 per account through
Lloyd’s of London.” A similar state-
ment was on the HMCU website.
In a January 2009 letter from Brit
Syndicates – written on behalf of the
underwriters at Lloyd’s of London —
Jilapuhn was told to stop using the
Lloyd’s name.
“First, the use of the Lloyd’s name
is unauthorized and at no time has
anyone at Lloyd’s provided authoriza-
tion for such use.”
In the letter, Lloyd’s pointed out
that a bankers’blanket bond, which it
initially provided to Jilapuhn, never
was intended to provide protection to
credit union depositors. A bankers’
blanket bond protects only the finan-
cial institution itself, not the individu-
al depositors, against loss caused by
criminal acts of bank employees.
Lloyd’s canceled that policy on
Sept. 2, 2008, because Jilapuhn failed
to make its payments.
In November 2009, Lloyd’s once
again ordered Jilapuhn to cease and
desist using the Lloyd’s of London
name and advertising that Lloyd’s is
the insurer for HMCU’s members.
HMCU has ignored that order.
HMCU gave a new depositor an infor-
mation form in January 2011 — two
years after the cease-and-desist order
— citing its connection to Lloyd’s
insurance with this message:
“This institution is privately
insured through Lloyd’s of London,
which allows us to insure each of
your accounts up to $100,000.”
STARTING
Starting a credit union in accord
with NCUA standards and procedures
is not easy.
A new credit union needs spon-
sors, members and people with
financial wherewithal willing to put
money into the credit union for a
significant period of time,
Zimmerman said.
A board of directors must be
assembled, and a professional or vol-
unteer staff must be put in place.
“It’s serious business because it’s
backed by the full faith and credit of
the government,” Zimmerman said.
If any officials or senior execu-
tive officers have a criminal record
that shows up on a background
check, they must resign,
Zimmerman said.
“You have to find people, but you
have to find people in good stand-
ing,” he said.
The steps to becoming a federally
chartered credit union are intense,
requiring mountains of paperwork
and financial documents and incredi-
bly high levels of scrutiny.
“It’s a substantial amount of work
to start a credit union or any financial
institution,” Zimmerman said.
In the Virgin Islands, however, it’s
barely any work at all.
The only thing the V.I. govern-
ment required for HMCU to start up
was a three-page business license
application. Her Majesty’s Credit
Union filled it out, opened its doors
and was free to start taking in peo-
ple’s money.
— Contact reporterAldethLewin at
714-9111 oremailalewin@dailynews.vi.
A letter from Lloyd’s of London to Jilapuhn demanding Her Majesty’s Credit
Union stop claiming it is insured by Lloyd’s.

VI_DAILYNEWS/PAGES [A12] | 04/29/12 21:39 | SUPERIMP
LICENSE TO STEAL
The website for Her Majesty’s Credit Union —
www.hmcu.net — says a lot without saying
much.
It falsely implies a Caribbean affiliation by dis-
playing as its slogan: “Dem People, Dem Credit
Union.”
The website carries this statement:
“As a credit union in the Caribbean our goal is to
bring back the TRUE meaning of credit union. This
concept has been lost by so many credit unions today.
At HMCU, we are a true Caribbean credit union with
the values of the Caribbean people. We are not only a
credit union, but a Caribbean Family Union!”
What it does not reveal is the fact that members’
money is left unprotected.
Shares in the HMCU are not insured, but the web-
site suggests otherwise by prominently displaying the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation emblem on
the home page and quoting an FDIC alert that
HMCU picked up elsewhere and uses on its own
website:
“HMCU is issuing a fraud alert to members and
potential members. HMCU does not broker account
openings with any company or individuals. PLEASE
BE AWARE OF ADVANCED FEE LOAN
SCAMS!”
The website also bears the America’s Credit
Unions logo, which is available for use only by mem-
bers of the Credit Union National Association.
Her Majesty’s Credit Union is not a member.
The HMCU website “About Us” page touts the
credit union’s claim to integrity with this statement:
“Trust, openness, honesty, accountability and the
highest ethical standards are important parts of Her
Majesty’s Credit Union work ethic, supporting our
trademarks of integrity and trust.”
Her Majesty’s Credit Union invokes the name of
Jesus and quotes scripture, a tactic that might inspire
trust where none should be given.
The website states that HMCU’s corporate name,
Jilapuhn, stands for Jesus is Lord all praises unto his
name. The website then displays the following:
“No weapon that is formed against thee shall pros-
per; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in
judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of
the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is
of me, saith the LORD. — Isaiah 54:17.”
— ContactreporterAldethLewinat 714-9111 or email
alewin@dailynews.vi.
Many false claims on HMCU website

ONE DOLLAR www.virginislandsdailynews.com
Copyright © 2012 Daily News Publishing Co. WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2012 81st year, No. 22378
81
The sweet
delight
of cookies
Page 28
Daily News Photos by THOMAS LAYER
Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs office on St Thomas. At top, Her Majesty’s Credit Union office in
Tutu Park Mall has been closed for weeks.The Attorney General is investigating the credit union.
Page 3
V.I. to
probe
credit
unionObama visits
Afghanistan
Page 16
Popovich
is NBA Coach
of theYear
Page 48
Education
finds cash
to restore
school bus
servicePage 3
CAHS vs. Kean
Back Page
Good Health
Care Guide
INSIDE

VIRGIN ISLANDS
Education Department says buses will run today
By FIONA STOKES
Daily News Staff
ST. CROIX — School buses are
expected to be back in service on St.
Croix today, but officials warned that
there is a possibility service could be
disrupted again.
School bus service was suspended
on the island on Monday because the
V.I. Education Department owed the
bus company, Abramson Enterprises
Inc., more than $625,000.
Education officials released a
statement announcing the suspension
Monday but at that time did not know
how long the service disruption
would last.
On Tuesday afternoon, Education
spokeswoman Ananta Pancham said
that Education Department officials
examined all sources of funding and
pulled together funds to cover the
outstanding payments for February
and March, which will allow the
buses to run again on Wednesday.
The department has a contract to
pay the Abramson Enterprises about
$4 million annually to provide bus
service, and the account had been
paid in full through the end of
January, Pancham said.
While the payments have been
made, officials made it clear
Tuesday that this is just a short-term
fix to a problem that will resurface
if a consistent revenue source is not
found.
Pancham said checks delivered to
the company Tuesday were covered
by funds pulled from other essential
areas — such as janitorial and secu-
rity guard services — that the
department now may not be able to
maintain.
Education officials will continue
to work with the V.I. Office of
Management and Budget to address
the shortfall and to pay future trans-
portation bills, which officials said
cannot be covered by the depart-
ment’s already strained General Fund
budget, according to Pancham.
The Education Department was
notified two weeks ago by Abramson
Enterprises that it was behind on its
payments to provide school bus service
in the district, leaving open the possi-
bility of a suspension of service,
according to Pancham.
A spokesman for Abramson
Enterprises did not respond to Daily
News calls Monday or Tuesday.
When classes resumed Monday
morning after the V.I. Carnival break,
students on St. Croix waiting for
school buses were left stranded.
The lack of any notice from the
Education Department angered many
parents whose children were left
standing at the bus stop.
St. Croix School Superintendant
Gary Molloy said Tuesday that he is
aware of the disruption that the sus-
pension of the bus service caused in
the district for students and their par-
ents and regrets the inconvenience it
caused.
Attendance also suffered, primari-
ly on Monday and a little on Tuesday,
because some parents had no alter-
nate means to get their children to
school, he said.
Molloy said the department was
not completely caught off-guard by
the disruption of service, but the ser-
vice suspension still was something
Education officials did not expect on
Monday.
“We had some inkling that they
could pull the buses, but not this
soon” he said. “I guess based on how
we were processing the checks and
their expectation, it was not met.”
Education Commissioner LaVerne
Terry said the department’s resources
will continue to be affected if they
are not able to get the bus situation
under control.
“We want to assure the public that
we will continue to work with the
Office of Management and Budget to
address the funding we need to ensure
that the bills for upcoming months
will be paid,” she said in a prepared
statement issued Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday, Sen. Janette Millin
Young, chairwoman of the Senate’s
Education, Youth and Culture
Committee, blasted the Education
Department, saying it initially had
included $5.7 million in funding for
school bus transportation in an appro-
priations request, but the department
eliminated that item before the
request was submitted to the
Legislature.
Had the department made its actu-
al needs known, the Senate could
have identified and moved funds to
address the bus issue, Millin Young
said.
In response to those comments,
Pancham said that on many occa-
sions, the Education Department has
shared its concerns about the reduc-
tions to its budget and the impact that
it would have on mandatory services,
including transportation.
— Contact reporter Fiona Stokes
a t 7 1 4 - 9 1 4 9 o r e m a i l
fstokes@dailynews.vi.
Money earmarked to pay janitors, guards
reallocated to pay $625,000 bus debt
V.I. Justice Department reacts to Daily News investigation
by launching probe of Her Majesty’s Credit Union
By ALDETH LEWIN
Daily News Staff
ST. THOMAS — V.I. Justice
Department has launched an investi-
gation into Her Majesty’s Credit
Union, and the V.I. Department of
Licensing and Consumer Affairs is
asking credit union members who are
unable to access their money to file a
formal complaint.
Both government actions are the
result of a two-month investigative
report by The Daily News found that
Her Majesty’s Credit Union is operat-
ed by a man with a criminal record,
multiple aliases and a history of failed
business ventures. He currently is
under investigation by the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission
and has been jailed in the past for
refusing to cooperate with state inves-
tigators in Colorado looking into pos-
sible fraud.
The credit union, which is unin-
sured and largely unregulated by the
V.I. government, abruptly closed its
doors to the public in February.
Members have had no recourse to
obtain their money, and despite prom-
ises by the credit union’s Chief
Executive Officer Stan McDuffie to
send checks, none have been
received.
Under the V.I. Code, credit unions
not federally chartered and federally
insured are governed by the DLCA.
Her Majesty’s Credit Union is the
only one of six credit unions in the
territory that is not regulated by the
federal government.
Her Majesty’s Credit Union is a
subsidiary of a company called
Jilapuhn, which is run by McDuffie
— who also uses the aliases Stan
Roberson, Stan Roberson-Battle and
Stanley Battle. Jilapuhn is registered
as a corporation with the Lt.
Governor’s Division of Corporations
and Trademarks, but it is not in good
standing.
Jilapuhn filed for a business license
with DLCA in 2005 and in 2008
received a DLCA license to operate a
credit union in the territory. Under the
name Her Majesty’s Credit Union, it
opened in a storefront inside the Tutu
Park Mall on St. Thomas in 2009.
In January, the credit union’s sys-
tem went down — according to the
HMCU employees — and while the
credit union continued to accept
deposits, it refused to allow members
to make withdrawals.
In February, Her Majesty’s Credit
Union shut down with no notice to
members.
DLCACommissioner Wayne Biggs
Jr. sent out a public statement Tuesday
urging any member of the credit union
who has had difficulty gaining access
to accounts or has been unable to
make withdrawal of their deposits to
contact DLCA to file a formal com-
plaint.
“Individuals facing the unfortunate
dilemma of not having access to their
accounts can come to the Department
and meet with a Consumer Protection
Services agent who will assist them in
completing the required paperwork,”
the release said.
The process includes some paper-
work and an interview with a consum-
er protection services agent, Biggs
said.
Biggs said the DLCA is now inves-
tigating the credit union, which could
lead to the revocation of HMCU’s
business license.
“We’re doing our investigation, and
then we will determine what should
happen after that,” he told The Daily
News on Tuesday.
The Daily News investigation also
spurred the V.I. Justice Department to
open an investigation into Her
“We did start an investigation upon
your call,” V.I. Attorney General
Vincent Frazer said.
When The Daily News contacted
Frazer last month, he said he had not
heard about the credit union and said
he would ask his staff to look into the
matter.
He said his investigation is very
broad and simply is looking into what
happened. Frazer said some victims
have been identified, although he
would not disclose how many.
“That would be a critical part of the
investigation,” he said.
When asked if the Justice
Department plans to file charges
against the credit union or its princi-
pals, Frazer said it is too soon to tell.
“We have to conclude the investi-
gation to know what we can do,” he
said.
Questions about the complaint pro-
cess can be directed to the Department
of Licensing and Consumer Affairs,
Division of Consumer Services, at
774-3130.
DLCA’s St. Thomas office is in
Sub Base on the second floor of the
Property and Procurement Building.
— Contact reporter Aldeth Lewin
a t 7 1 4 - 9 1 1 1 o r e m a i l
alewin@dailynews.vi.
To file a
complaint
Members of Her Majesty’s
Credit Union who have had
trouble accessing their money
can file a formal complaint
with the V.I. Department of
Licensing and Consumer
Affairs. Go to the DLCA’s St.
Thomas office in Sub Base
and ask to speak to a consum-
er protection services agent.
DLCA’s St. Thomas office
is in Sub Base on the sec-
ond floor of the Property and
Procurement Building, near
the public tennis courts.
For more information call
774-3130.
Daily News Photo by THOMAS LAYER
Her Majesty’s Credit Union’s branch in Tutu Park Mall remains closed. The
mall is suing the credit union for failing to pay rent.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 The Virgin Islands Daily News 3

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