Grenada got part of the loot?
by Leroy Noel
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
ST GEORGE‘S, Grenada: The holder of the
office of Prime Minister of Grenada may be benefiting from the loot of former
Grenadian ambassador Victor Kozeny who has been indicted in the United States
on charges that he stole $182 million from 15 New York-based investment funds.
A high ranking official of the ruling party in Grenada, who says he is fed up
with the current state of affairs, is worried that the Prime Ministerial car
was brought from proceeds that Kozeny gained illegally.
The current official car of the Prime Minister was a gift from Kozeny, the
Mercedes being handed over during a brief ceremony several years ago.
Kozeny, who was born in the former Czechoslovakia, obtained a Grenada passport
under its now-defunct economic citizenship program and has been dubbed "the
Pirate of Prague". The party official, who
does not want to be named for fear of reprisals, says the Government should do
the ethical thing and sell the car donated by Kozeny and give the proceeds to
charity.
He added that he is personally ashamed of
the fact that the country’s leader is driving around in a vehicle donated by
such a questionable character. He says if the Government was not aware of the
character of Kozeny at the time the vehicle was given, it surely is aware now
and should do the moral and ethical thing. Dr
Keith Mitchell, the current Prime Minister of Grenada, is under pressure to
answer the many questions surrounding monies he collected at the home of a
German fraudster in Switzerland in June 2000.
Grenada's name has being tarnished over the last ten years for having dealings
with questionable characters like Van Brink who was arrested in Uganda and
brought to the United States to answer several charges of wire fraud and money
laundering and who operated the failed First International Bank of Grenada.
Eric Resteiner, another former Grenadian diplomat, has also been indicted in
the United States.
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