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by Kenneth Williams for the St.Kitts-Nevis Observer

A U.S. Department of State official has confirmed to The Observer that America’s Justice Department is concerned about several Federation citizens who have bank accounts containing funds of up to eight figures — many times more than they could earn by working at their trade or profession.

The mid-level ranking official revealed the information Monday. He said the United States and key allies have been alerted and are considering several options to deal with the issue.

Speaking under condition of anonymity from his office in Washington D.C., the official said the U.S. has been concerned about the development in Basseterre for some time.
He also said the United States had raised its concerns with the Federation government on more than two occasions and even sent officials to Basseterre to discuss the problem with authorities. He claimed government officials in Canada had done the same.

When the U.S. official was asked to specify the areas of concern raised with Basseterre, the official said there were many issues, but the most pressing one deals with the Citizen by Investment program.

He told The Observer, ‘We went there (to Basseterre) almost a year ago and shared with the government some of the information we had at the time.’ He said the effort was made ‘to encourage Basseterre to strengthen security measures to ensure that undesirables are not drawn to the program.’

While the U.S. official said America’s delegation was well received and assured that government officials ‘would act swiftly, the evidence shows a different picture.’

The Observer asked if the holders of the bank accounts could have violated U.S. laws. The official responded, ‘At the end of our investigations (if) persons are found to violate U.S. law, then there is only one remedy and that is prosecution.’

In November 2013, The Observer obtained a Cabinet submission issued by the Hon. Patrice Nisbett, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, Justice and Legal Affairs. Dated July 11, 2013, the document refers to a controversial passport incident in Canada and the subsequent fallout.

The Cabinet document stated that the Ministry of Homeland Security had been asked to respond to concerns raised by Paul Jamieson, a liaison officer with Canada’s Border Services Agency at the Canada High Commission in Trinidad.

Mr. Jamieson’s office is charged with processing all immigration applications for citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis. Even though citizens are permitted visa-free travel to Canada, under the law they need work and study permits.  The document states that Jamieson was concerned about several passports issued by St. Kitts and Nevis.

The Ministry responded to the concerns only to receive a subsequent email focusing on the Economic Citizenship by Investment program and an entry into Canada by Alizera Moghadam, a citizen of Iran.

Mr. Moghadam allegedly used a St. Kitts and Nevis diplomatic passport to enter Canada and reportedly told the Border officer he was on diplomatic status for the visit and that the trip was for official diplomatic matters.

According to the document, the Iranian told the officer he was scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister of Canada. However, when asked to provide supporting documentation and additional details, he was either unable or unwilling to do so.

The Canadian Embassy was unable to confirm any such meeting. Because Moghadam had been given diplomatic courtesy at the entry point, he was pressed to confirm he was actually on official state business for the government of St. Kitts and Nevis. Officials also attempted to clarify his position with the government of St. Kitts and Nevis.

According to the document, Jamieson was concerned about the Federation’s Citizenship by Investment program, particularly the participation of Iranian nationals and a possible lack of diligence in the way individuals acquired and used SKN passports to enter Canada even though they had been denied visas by that nation.

Other issues that bothered him were the attempts by some SKN passport holders who acquired them through the CBI program to file for refugee status once they had entered Canada.  He was concerned that at least one individual through involvement in fraudulent activities had been granted citizenship under the citizen investment program in contravention of the Federation’s own regulations.

Nisbett confirmed that a visit by Canadian authorities last year had been triggered by these concerns as well as Moghadam’s entry into Canada. The issues came up at a June 4, 2013 meeting in St. Kitts between Jamieson, two officers from the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Permanent Secretary of Homeland Security.

‘It was evident that Mr. Moghadam’s entry into Canada may have served as a catalyst and may be the precursor to further actions by the Canadian authorities,’ Nisbett declared in his submission.

The submission added that the Ministry of Homeland Security had pressed for actions to be taken to resolve the problem with Canada, but that no response had been received from Cabinet up to the date off the document.
Nisbett also stated that Jamieson had been given copies of the legislation and regulations governing the issuance of passport per his request. The Minister was concerned that the diplomatic passport problem with Moghadam had ‘possible implications for the continuation of visa-free status which the Federation enjoys with Canada.’
What the Cabinet submission by Nisbett did not mention was the Canadians’ claim that Moghadam claimed he had paid US1 million for his diplomatic passport.

Information recently surfaced that U.S. officials feared the St. Kitts-Nevis government is continuing to sell passports to Iranian citizens despite assurances that it had stopped the practice over a year ago.  The news came in a May 20 revelation in a U.S. Treasury Department Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) advisory to financial institutions.

FinCEN issued a warning that people were buying SKN citizenship and using the passports to conceal their identities while engaging in illegal financial activities.

The advisory stated, ‘In 2013, the SKN government announced that all Iranian nationals were suspended from participating in the SKN Citizenship-by-Investment program. Despite this public assurance, FinCEN believes that Iranian nationals continue to obtain passports issued through this program.’

According to FinCEN, individuals were securing SKN passports with relative ease because of poor government oversight of its Citizenship by Investment Program.

The advisory states, ‘The SKN program is attractive to illicit actors because the program as administered maintains lax controls as to who may be granted citizenship…As a result of these lax controls, illicit actors, including individuals intending to use the secondary citizenship to evade sanctions, can obtain a SKN passport with relative ease.’  Institutions were cautioned to be aware of people using passports obtained through the CBI program.

Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas on Wednesday, May 21, denied that passports continue to be sold to Iranian citizens.

He said the U.S. position was wrong and that his government had ceased processing passports for Iranians after July 2013.

Dr. Douglas further stated that all persons born in Iran, living out of Iran or applying from within that country had been suspended from CBI in 2013, even though some had obtained citizenship after the ban because they were already in the system.

The Prime Minister stated, ‘I think there might have been some misunderstanding and misinterpretation on the part of the United States with regards to those who were already processed and had been approved…which were continued to be processed in the issuance of citizenship.’

The Observer will wait to see if the bank accounts issue is the next shoe to drop in these interesting rounds of events.