13 years ago the opposition UWP promised individuals diplomatic passports in exchange for money to finance its campaign.
In December 2004 two operatives of the United Workers Party (UWP) met at Helmhaus Hotel in Zurich, Switzerland with a number of high net worth individuals.
Faced with the prospects of coming up against a huge Dominica Labour Party (DLP) war chest, the operatives had travelled to the Swiss capital to seek financing for their party's 2005 election campaign, according to information reaching The Sun.
In exchange for contributions of between US$150,000 and US$300,000 these individuals were promised diplomatic passports, according to one person familiar the meetings.
Of the "procession of people" who they met, six agreed to donate to the campaign, including American Howell Way Woltz, who would later plead guilty to tax conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges and would spend 87 months in a US federal prison.
The monies were sent via wire transfer to the account of a local businessman with close links with the UWP, and between 5 January and 26 April 2005, 13 transactions ranging from $50,000 to $500,000, and totalling $3.5 million, were made from this account to four business accounts of UWP functionaries, one of whom have since died, a source told The Sun.
The UWP did not win the election, so no diplomatic passports were issued.
In light of the current developments over the issuance by the Roosevelt Skerrit administration of diplomatic passports to people of unsavoury character, and the UWP's condemnation of the practice, one person told The Sun there was more than a touch of hypocrisy on the part of the opposition.
"This is tremendous hypocrisy that the United Workers Party would come as if their hands are clean when they have themselves have peddled diplomatic passports . . . to fund their campaign. I have seen a lot of smoke with this administration – and where there is smoke there usually is fire – but I have seen the fire with UWP.
Former prime minister Edison James was at the helm of the UWP during the 2005 election campaign. Asked about the revelation that operatives of his party had promised diplomatic passports in return for campaign donations, James described the leaking of this information to The Sun as another attempt by Skerrit and his DLP at smokes and mirrors.
On the specific issue of funding for the 2005 campaign, James said the UWP administration "has never and would never have appointed anyone who had a criminal record" or was under criminal investigation as has been the case with the current DLP administration, "because thorough due diligence would have been carried out". Nor, he said, would his party ever "take money related with criminal activity".
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