CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
Antigua
Former chief executive officer of
Antigua and Barbuda’s Financial Services
Regulatory Commission (FSRC),
Leroy King was sentenced to 10 years
in prison in Texas for his role in connection
with a US$7 billion Ponzi scheme
executed by disgraced financier Allen
Stanford.
King, 74, was the last defendant to
be sentenced for his involvement in the
fraud that was executed through the
Antigua-based Stanford International
Bank (SIB).
King, a dual citizen of the US and
Antigua and Barbuda, was extradited to
the US in November 2019. He pleaded
guilty on Jan. 30, 2020, to one count of
conspiracy to obstruct justice, for his
role in obstructing the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation
into the SIB.
King, was responsible
for the twin-island
nation’s regulatory
oversight of
Stanford International
Bank Ltd. (SIBL) investment portfolio,
including reports and responses to
requests by foreign regulators, including
the SEC, for information and documents
about SIBL’s operations.
He admitted that Stanford gave him
US$520,963.97 in cash payments over
the course of the conspiracy.
The Texan businessman provided
him among other incentives with
repeated flights on private jets that he
or Stanford Financial Group (SFG) entities
owned.
Around 2005, the SEC began investigating
Stanford and the Stanford
Financial Group and made official
inquiries with the FSRC regarding the
value and content of SIBL’s purported
investments.
However, King denied the SEC’s
request for help.
Five others were also convicted for
their roles in the scheme and received
sentences ranging from three to 20
years in federal prison.
A federal grand jury found Stanford
guilty in June 2012 for his role
in orchestrating a 20-year investment
fraud scheme in which he misappropriated
US$7 billion from SIB to finance
his personal business. He is serving a
110-year prison sentence.
Barbados
The Barbados government will soon
launch a National Investment Fund
(NIF) to secure the next batch of COVID-
19 vaccines for residents.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley in making
the announcement said that more
than 29,000 people had already received
the vaccine.
While the first 100,000 doses of the
Oxford-Astra-Zeneca vaccine were a gift
Caribbean L 4 ife, MARCH 12-18, 2021
Updated daily at www.caribbeanlifenews.com
Recaptured inmates are led by police outside the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison after an attempted breakout, in Port-au-Prince,
Haiti, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. At least seven people were killed on Thursday after several inmates tried to escape from the prison,
eyewitnesses told The Associated Press. Associated Press/Dieu Nalio Chery
from the government of India, Mottley
said the next shipment would come at a
cost but did not go into details.
In an address to
the nation recently to
provide an update on
the COVID-19 situation
and the vaccination
roll out, the prime minister said
the government would not be charging
people for the next round of vaccines
it intends to purchase, but would be
appealing at the individual and corporate
levels to help ease the “stress’
by contributing to the fund when it is
established.
Mottley reported that about 14 percent
of the island’s population had
already been vaccinated. She said just
over 29,000 vaccinations were administered
in just over two weeks from India,
which arrived recently in Barbados.
Grenada
Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dr. Keith
Mitchell said there will be no carnival
celebrations this year, even if 60 percent
of the population get the COVID-
19 vaccine.
This will be the second consecutive
year carnival celebrations in the Spice
Island has been canceled due to the
pandemic.
The island’s immunization
rollout began
on Feb. 12 and health
officials are working
towards having 60
percent of the island’s population of
110,000 vaccinated.
During an interview with journalists
Dr. Mitchell said, “we will not be able to
achieve 60 percent by July, but even if
we did, I think it will be a mistake to go
and have a mass event because you will
still have 40 percent of the people who
will not have been vaccinated.”
Grenada’s carnival climaxes in
August annually. There were no celebrations
in 2020 because of measures
enforced to control and contain the
spread of COVID-19.
Guyana
President Irfaan Ali has announced a
new national award to be bestowed on
those who defended Guyana’s democracy
following last year’s election.
In a statement
issued on the first
anniversary of the
controversial March 2,
2020, vote, Ali said the
names of those to be
vested with the Order of Democracy will
be announced later this year.
He said although Guyanese people
went out to vote peacefully and orderly,
there was a devious plot to subvert the
democratic will of the people after the
counting of the votes.
The president said he has taken a
decision to institute a national award,
the Order of Democracy, in recognition
of the contributions of those individuals
and organizations who defied the
riggers and defended our democracy.
Jamaica
Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness
has announced new and stricter
Covid-19 measures- including a ban on
funerals and burials, a work-from-home
order for the public sector employees
and the extension of the island-wide
curfew.
He said the government
had been forced
to shift policy efforts
in order to preserve
lives and livelihoods,
amid an increase in COVID-19 positive
cases and hospitalization.
COVID-19 facilities are currently at
capacity or nearly full, with 225 people
Continued on Page 16
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