Minister of Justice Philip La Corbiniere: What does he know about the FIA burglary and has he communicated details to his Prime Minister?

1.
FIA
Burglary:
Kenny-­‐Frederick
files?
by
Rick
Wayne
Minister
of
Justice
Philip
La
Corbiniere:
What
does
he
know
about
the
FIA
burglary
and
has
he
communicated
details
to
his
Prime
Minister?
Last
September,
this
newspaper
featured
a
lead
item
entitled:
“Remember
What
You
Know
that
I
Know
that
You
Know
that
I
Know?”
If
to
the
uninformed
eye
the
headline
read
like
gibberish,
it
nevertheless
reminded
most
Saint
Lucians
of
the
anything
but
funny
famous
2006
pre-­‐election
confrontation
outside
the
NIC
conference
room,
featuring
the
soon
to
be
unseated
Prime
Minister
Kenny
Anthony
and
newcomer
to
the
arena
but
already
controversial
Richard
Frederick,
an
independent
candidate
seeking
to
replace
the
incumbent
Castries
Central
MP.
No
need
to
revisit
the
cited
publication.
Suffice
it
to
say
it
referenced
an
August
2013
SLP
rally
when
the
SLP
leader
and
prime
minister
not
only

2. uncharacteristically
sang
lustily
for
his
USDA-­‐approved
cheeseburger,
but
also
acknowledged
that
without
US
greenbacks,
local
law
enforcement
efforts
at
combating
human
and
drug
trafficking
would
be
severely
handicapped.
While
earlier
the
Minister
for
Legal
Affairs
had
sought
to
invalidate
my
revelation
that
funding
supplied
under
the
Leahy
Law
arrangements
had
been
suspended—as
punishment
for
the
government’s
self-­‐serving
reluctance
to
investigate
alleged
human
rights
violations
by
local
cops—
the
prime
minister
was
subsequently
left
little
choice
but
to
confirm
my
story,
as
diplomatically
as
possible,
during
a
televised
public
address.
For
certain
particularly
well-­‐informed
readers,
however,
perhaps
the
scariest
part
of
my
September
account
was
the
warning
of
a
“combustible
matter
about
to
bust
wide
open,
involving
the
Financial
Intelligence
Authority,
whose
director
is
local
lawyer
Paul
Thompson.
The
rest
of
the
unit
comprises
police
and
customs
officers.”
The
FIA
was
set
up
to
deal
particularly
with
money
laundering
and
other
crimes
involving
finance.
The
final
paragraph:
“For
the
time
being
I
need
only
ask
again:
What
does
the
prime
minister
know
about
this
ticking
FIA
bomb
that
Richard
Frederick
may
or
may
not
know,
and
about
which
Philip
J.
Pierre
and
fellow
Cabinet
colleagues
may
have
not
a
clue?
This
time
around,
who
will
be
the
sacrificial
lamb?”
Although
I
had
strategically
neglected
to
mention
it
at
the
time,
my
sources
had
suggested
that
never
mind
the
well-­‐publicized
laundering
of
their
dirty
linen
on
Bridge
Street
and
in
William
Peter
Boulevard,
away
from
prying
ears
the
prime
minister
and
Richard
Frederick
enjoyed
an
association
a
long
way
from
acrimonious.
I
might’ve
easily
accepted
the
incredible
suggestion
had
it
involved
any
other
two
politicians.
The
prime
minister
and
the
Castries
Central
MP
was
altogether
another
cup
of
canelle
tea.
There
was
no
official
reaction;
at
any
rate,
publicly.
But
well-­‐positioned
sources
had
assured
me
my
article
ruffled
some
feathers
high
up
the
ovine
food
chain.

3. Indeed,
my
article
seemed
to
have
confirmed
their
long-­‐held
suspicions
I
not
only
had
CIA
and
US
State
Department
sources,
but
also
close
links
with
local
government
personnel
connected
with
American
agencies.
Whether
or
not
true,
that
was
hardly
the
point.
I
had
fully
expected
some
official
reaction.
In
particular,
to
my
not-­‐so-­‐subtle
suggestion
that
the
US
visas
held
by
certain
cops
were
under
threat—the
justice
minister’s
too,
if
the
government
continued
to
drag
its
feet
on
promises
to
the
State
Department
relating
to
the
suspected
human
rights
violations
by
local
cops.
Then
came
the
public
announcement
that
in
keeping
with
US
demands,
IMPACS,
a
previously
unheard
of
OECS
group
comprising
largely
distrusted
Jamaican
cops,
had
started
looking
into
allegations
that
members
of
the
RSLPF
had
in
2011
extra-­‐judicially
disposed
of
several
supposedly
troublesome
citizens
during
Operation
Restore
Confidence.
Under
normal
circumstances,
once
such
an
investigation
was
underway,
funding
to
the
police
would’ve
been
restored.
In
this
instance,
the
Leahy
funds
continue
to
be
withheld,
a
fact
recently
acknowledged
officially
here.
Lately,
however,
our
self-­‐convinced
oracular
legal
affairs
minister
has
been
bragging
all
over
the
pussycat
local
media.
Perhaps
in
response
to
my
treatment
of
his
risible
attempt
at
intimidating
our
reporters,
the
SLP-­‐plagued
Timothy
Poleon
in
particular,
the
minister
has
been
suggesting
I
knew
not
whence
I
cometh—evinced
by
his
retention
of
his
US
visa.
Of
course,
the
reason
for
that
is
the
IMPACS
investigation.
How
long
the
unelected
minister
is
allowed
to
keep
his
visa
will,
I
suspect,
depend
on
the
impact
of
IMPACS,
expected
to
report
its
findings
next
month.
Meanwhile,
another
bombshell
involving
the
Financial
Intelligence
Authority:
it
turns
out
a
special
file,
according
to
my
sources,
“this
thick,”
and
cash
exhibits
totaling
some
$US4000
that
were
kept
in
an
ostensibly
“secure
cabinet”
at
the
FIA,
have
vanished.
The
legal
affairs
minister,
who
was
recently
issuing
threats
against

4. sections
of
the
media
via
RSL,
has
known
for
some
time
about
the
missing
file
and
money,
but
has
chosen
to
keep
the
matter
from
the
general
public.
I
cannot
say,
for
certain,
whether
he
has
informed
his
prime
minister.
My
information
is
that
he
also
knows
who
removed
the
file
without
expressed
justification—and
its
present
location.
The
minister
is
also
aware
that
certain
items
have
inexplicably
disappeared
from
the
file.
As
for
the
missing
thousands,
there
has
been
no
accounting
for
the
withdrawal.
The
reason
the
file
was
removed
from
the
FIA
secure
cabinet
is,
to
say
the
least,
perplexing.
My
sources
tell
me
the
excuse
centers
on
a
burglary
that
went
unreported
until
long
after
the
fact.
The
legal
affairs
minister
alone
knows
what
he
did
with
the
received
information.
To
the
best
of
my
knowledge
the
police
are
not
investigating
the
matter,
at
any
rate,
not
with
any
noticeable
urgency!
The
stolen
money
was
an
exhibit
in
the
Donovan
Lorde
case,
at
least
five
years
pending.
As
for
the
items
extracted
from
the
“this
thick”
file,
it
concerned
the
earlier
mentioned
behind
the
scenes
relationship
between
the
prime
minister
and
the
much-­‐maligned
Castries
Central
MP—especially
by
the
Minister
for
Legal
Affairs!
Several
years
ago
a
vault
containing
classified
documents
and
an
undisclosed
amount
of
money
was
surreptitiously
removed
from
the
office
of
the
police
commissioner.
The
STAR
broke
that
story,
which
was
subsequently
officially
confirmed.
Hopefully,
the
FIA
director
and
the
Minister
for
Legal
Affairs
will
be,
however
late
in
the
day,
as
forthcoming.
The plot thickens!