Commission of Inquiry in Grenada calls first witnesses

by Kishawn Thomas
Caribbean Net News Grenada Correspondent
Email: kishawnthomas@hotmail.com

Thursday, June 16, 2005

ST GEORGE'S, Grenada: The first witnesses were called on Tuesday in the Commission of Inquiry, presided over by Barbadian jurist Richard Cheltenham, investigating allegations of wrong-doing against Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dr Keith Mitchell.

The first two witnesses were Michael Creft, a former head of the island’s offshore banking regulatory body, and Meryl Forsythe, a former cabinet secretary who retired three years ago.

Creft spoke of his role in facilitating Eric Resteiner to become an economic citizen of Grenada, and of how he arranged for the Prime Minister to visit Resteiner in Switzerland.

However, Creft said he could not find the file, which contained the documents that will show the government’s due diligence before it approved making Resteiner a citizen. He promised to help the Commission unearth it.

During evidence Tuesday it appeared that Resteiner was not only made a Trade Counsel for Grenada in Europe -- the one post the government has so far acknowledged that he held -- but at different stages, based on Forsythe’s evidence, he also appears to have been appointed Ambassador at Large, as well as Grenada’s ambassador to both Egypt and the Bahamas.

In one of the presentations of credentials, according to the evidence given, Resteiner claimed to have had a doctorate from the Palm Beach Theological College in Florida. However, a check on Tuesday with the Florida Department of Education revealed that this school never existed.

Prime Minister Mitchell visited Resteiner at his private estate in Switzerland during a visit to Europe and Kuwait in 2000 but, based on the evidence by Forsythe, it appeared to be a detour, since it was not listed on his itinerary that had previously been presented to the Cabinet.

Creft told the Commission that he had been the contact between Resteiner and the Prime Minister, leaving Commissioner Cheltenham to question why wasn’t that part of the trip organized by his office.

According to the allegations, it was during the visit in 2000 that Resteiner, then the holder of a Grenada diplomatic passport, handed the Grenadian leader a briefcase of cash.

Detractors said it was payment for Resteiner’s appointment as a trade counsel, but the Prime Minister has said it was reimbursement for expenses.

At the start of Tuesday morning’s session, Commissioner Cheltenham ruled against a submission by opposition leader Tillman Thomas for him to have counsel to be able to cross examine witnesses.

Thomas had argued that the standing of the commission would be greatly enhanced if opposition lawyers had their own chance to grill some of the witnesses.

According to a website posting by David Marchant, publisher of the Miami-based financial newsletter, Offshore Alert, which first published the allegations against Mitchell, he has only just been made aware that the Commission of Inquiry has resumed.

“Before Hurricane Ivan struck Grenada last year, I was contacted by the authorities in Grenada and asked whether I would provide evidence in Miami. I said that I would be prepared to do so but I have heard nothing since then,” said Marchant.

  Back...

  Most popular articles: viewed, printed and e-mailed

  Printable version