USA steps up assault on Jamaican lottery scammers !

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – An individual found in Farmington, Pa., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of mail fraud, conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States and money laundering, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

The six-count indictment named Jeffery Augustus Bernard, 23, formerly from Jamaica, as a defendant

 

http://www.justice.gov/usao/paw/news/2012/2012_february/2012_02_29_04.html

 

Today it was reported that here in Jamaica 22 persons allegedly involved in the lotto scam were picked up in a raid.

LEADER AND THREE MEMBERS OF VIOLENT JAMAICAN DRUG POSSE CONVICTED IN USA

Following a four-week trial, a federal jury in Brooklyn today returned a verdict convicting Christopher Barret, also known as “the General,” “Mouthy” and “Solo,” the leader of the “Fatherless Crew,” a violent Jamaican “posse,” of running a continuing criminal enterprise that distributed thousands of pounds of marijuana through the U.S. mail and brandishing firearms in furtherance of his narcotics business. Three of Barret’s enforcers, Leon Scarlett, also known as “Piggy” and “Agony,” Omar Mitchell, also known as “Sox,” and Ryan Anderson, also known as “Dre,” were convicted of marijuana trafficking charges. Anderson was also convicted of carrying a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. A fifth defendant, Kareem Forrest, also known as “Dooley,” pleaded guilty after the first week of trial.

 

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nye/pr/2012/2012feb08c.html

Fitch Affirms Jamaica Diversified Payment Rights Company (NCB)

This portion is particularly interesting and rather unusual .

The assigned ‘BB’ rating is higher than Jamaica’s long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) of ‘B-’, as the transaction mitigates certain sovereign risks associated with Jamaica. All DDBs have signed Notice and Acknowledgment Agreements that obligate them to deposit DPR collections into a designated collection account controlled by the indenture trustee, and large coverage levels ensure that the incentive for government interference remains low.

 

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/detail.cfm?pr_id=700985

What will happen if Peter Phillips fails to get an IMF agreement ?

Peter Phillips and the PNP has stumbled over their first hurdle and has failed to make it to the finish line, which is the end of the 2011/2012 fiscal year (May 31) with a budget in hand. The budget , which is supposed to have been tabled this month, has been pushed back to May and no one has asked  ” When in May, Dr Phillips”, we have simply accepted his excuses for lack of preparedness and waiting for him to tell us when the budget will be ready.

Jamaicans continue to reward ineptitude and fail to demand accountability and timeliness. We are willing to accept just about any excuse for failure on the part of our leaders to deliver, what they should deliver, when it should be delivered and the amount that was expected to be delivered. Our leaders are well aware of this and make no effort to ensure that they get the job done in a timely manner as they know, that their party supporters will just say  ” A nuh nuttin man, make d man tek im time and do d ting rite nuh man, d next man dem did do d same ting”.

The problem is, while party supporters are toleratant to ineptitude on the part of leadership from their party, they are intolerate to the same type of behaviour from the other party. We always seem to hold ourselves or our party and its leader to a lower standard that the other guys, thus allowing each to literally get away with incompetence during their term in office.

Since coming to power, Dr Phillips has been to Washington twice and the IMF has been here twice, the last visit lasting approximately two weeks, and today April 1, 2012, we are no closer to an agreement, nor does the Jamaican public know the current status of the negotiotions. The only substantial news we have received was an update on the IMF website, but nothing of substance from the ones, who indicated that they, will ensure we are informed on the progress of the negotiations.

Its rather interesting that the very same issues that appears to have stalled the agreement with Audley Shaw are the same ones facing Dr Peter Phillips today and Jamaican continues to wait and see what happens.

So, back to the original question. What if Peter Phillips fails to get an IMF agreement ?