Linda Straker, Author at Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network

Linda Straker

Linda Straker entered the profession in May 1997 as a junior reporter with The Grenadian Voice after completion of a journalism programme at the T A Marryshow Community College. After five years as a print journalist, she became a member of the newsroom staff at Weefm Radio where she was involved in newsgathering, production and presentation. She is very active in the industry and has participated in a number of fellowships, conferences, workshops and seminars. In 2005 became the first OECS correspondent for the Paris based Reporters Without Borders and she is currently in this position. She also works as an independent/freelance journalist and with Associated Press - Caribbean Office, Puerto Rico; Caribbean Media Corporation – Barbados and as a contributor with Nowgrenada.com, Grenada. Her formal educational achievement includes: Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights Law from the World Intellectual Property Academy; Certificate in Journalism from Columbia University, New York; and a Certificate in Creative Writing from St George’s University

Thousands Lost to Debit/Credit Card Fraud in Grenada

Businesswoman Dawseanne Williams did not foresee credit card fraud in her future when she made a simple and routine deposit into her local bank using one of its Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) in September 2022.

In her rush to get home, Ms. Williams forgot to remove her card from the machine. Her folly triggered an excruciating episode that played out in a magistrate court where a young female suspect incurred a criminal record for the crime and the stolen returned to the owner. Business woman Dawseanne Williams

“As I was driving home, I began getting automatic bank alerts informing me about the amount of money deducted from my account for transactions, but I was driving home, I knew I was not conducting any transaction, so I stopped the car and checked my purse and to my astonishment, the card was not in my purse,” Ms. Williams recalled. “I had left it at the machine or loss it, it was a Friday night, so my option was to notify the bank but by the time I did I had lost more than EC$2000, and my hard earn cash was disappearing before my eyes and it appears that my options were limited to stop the transaction,” she continued. The bank with whom Ms. Williams has her account states on its website, under loss and stolen card, that it is the responsibility of the holder to safeguard the debit card.

Caribbean CBIs

Grenada

Where CBI Answered an Economic SOS

By

Jovan Johnson,

Linda Straker and

Cheriann Blackman | May 20, 2022

When the Grenada Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme was launched in August 2013, it was believed by many to be the only way to save the island from an economic downfall.

Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell pushed the passport scheme in 2013 as his government battled economic struggles whipped up by the global financial downturn. Government declared that the programme would become a main source of revenue to help develop the island and pay outstanding debt to international creditors and lending agencies.

The programme offers individuals the ability to buy its passport in as few as 60 days at a minimum cost of USD $150,000 USD in addition to USD $8,000 processing fees. In 2018, five years after the programme started, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of an overreliance on CBI inflows, noting that the programme accounted for 4.5 per cent of GDP in 2017:

“Further improve mechanisms for monitoring the proceeds of CBI inflows and recording all flows through the consolidated fund on budget to improve fiscal management and reporting,” was a major red flag from the IMF, which also asserted that “strict enforcement of the due diligence process of the CBI program are critical for Grenada’s continued stable access to cross-border bank payments”.(https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2018/236/002.2018.issue-236-en.xml)

Source: IM Daily https://www.imidaily.com

The CBI program based on projections in the budget estimate is expected to remain a vital earner for Grenada’s economy. Red Flags

By law, the identity of beneficiaries under the programme is a tightly kept secret – just one of the restrictions that raises a transparency red flag for a programme that plays a major role in raising cash and investments to boost economic growth.

Grenada is just one of five countries in the English-speaking Caribbean to offer the programme. Through these schemes, non-nationals can purchase citizen status after making financial commitments to invest in real estate or special funds set up by the governments.

But there have been longstanding concerns by citizens, local anti-corruption lobbyists and powerful development partners in Europe and North America that the passport schemes could be abused to shield bad actors like money launderers and terrorism financiers.

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