Alaska Politicians Made CBC Caps!
Source: At Least Two Barbados Politicians Received Undeclared “Campaign Donations” From Corrupt Alaskan VECO Corporation
Alaska’s VECO Corporation is now infamous for using bribery of politicians as a standard operating procedure. In the United States, numerous US politicians and corporation executives are facing criminal charges or are under FBI investigation for receiving gifts, loans and outright payments from VECO.
Several people have already plead guilty or been found guilty, including VECO CEO and founder Bill Allen, VECO Vice-President Rick Smith and political big-shots Bill Bobrick, Tom Anderson, Pete Kott, Vic Kohring, Jim Clark and Bill Weimar.
The VECO Barbados Connection
VECO also did over half a billion US$ worth of business with the previous BLP Barbados Government – building the oil terminal and the new prison. Barbados citizens are unclear on the exact amount of tax dollars that was paid to VECO because under both the previous Arthur/Mottley BLP government and the current Thompson DLP Government, citizens have no right to know how much of their money the government spends and what for.
To give you an idea of how VECO typically operated, another one of Alaska’s senior politicians has just been charged by the FBI with various corrupt offenses. It is alleged that Senator Ted Stephens received considerations from VECO Corporation in return for sweetheart government contracts and for pushing through tax laws and other regulations that favoured VECO. Stephens also arranged for VECO to have an inside contact at the World Bank and to receive favourable treatment in an oil deal in Pakistan. Here is what he received that we know about…
– A job for his son.
– The ability to invest US$5000 in a Florida condo which was later sold for a profit of over US$100,000. (Not a bad return on $5000!!!)
– A new Jeep Cherokee vehicle for his daughter.
– A Land Rover for himself discounted by US$20,000 under list price from the CEO of VECO.
– A free generator for his chalet.
Ted Stephens and the others also received hundreds of thousands of dollars in “campaign contributions” from VECO to ensure that they would be reelected. Yup… nothing was too good for any politician who could award multi-million dollar government contracts to VECO. The corrupt company gave cash, renovated homes, bought cars, trips and condos for politicians as their standard method of operation.
That is just how VECO operated worldwide: they obtained government contracts by bribing politicians, but Barbados politicians would have you believe that none of that went on here. No Sir!
VECO’s Corrupt Bastards Club
At one point the bribes were so open that some corrupt Alaska politicians made up hats saying “CBC” – which stood for “Corrupt Bastards Club”.
This is the same VECO that the Owen Arthur/Mia Mottley BLP government of Barbados hired without open competitive bidding to build our oil terminal and our new prison. VECO had never built a prison before, but by god, they were given the contract as a gift by then Attorney General Mia Mottley and Prime Minister Owen Arthur.
Our source says that Mia Mottley received over $100,000 in undeclared “campaign contributions” from VECO Corporation that she fed into her constituency office. This is only what the folks in the office saw and is probably a fraction of the total. After all, if VECO received half-a-billion dollars in government contracts, you can bet that they paid out more than a lousy $100 grand.
Our same source says that Prime Minister Owen Arthur’s constituency office also received big money from VECO, but on the amount they are unsure. Would Arthur have accepted less than his Attorney General that he barely tolerated?
Perhaps Mr. Arthur can advise his fellow citizens from Switzerland, London or Miami – or whatever jurisdiction he ends up retiring to as he becomes a “consultant” to justify his continued income.
Former Attorney General Dale Marshall: Corrupt Bastard
And what did the Government of Barbados do when Barbados Free Press and the other blogs broke the story to the Barbados public that VECO executives and politicians were being arrested? (BFP and the blogs broke the VECO story on the island because the Barbados news media naturally wouldn’t touch a story that showed the government in a bad light.)
Well… good old Attorney General Dale Marshall announced that he would have a meeting with VECO executives to get the truth of the story… to see if any improper payments were made by VECO to Barbados government officials and politicians.
Yup… Attorney General Dale Marshall met with those VECO executives for a half an hour one morning and then held a press conference to announce that everything was on the up and up because the VECO executives said it was.
Whew! We were glad to hear that, Dale!
Dale Marshall: You corrupt bastard. You were supposed to look after the interests of your fellow citizens but instead you participated in a sham of an inquiry and then covered-up the corruption by your BLP friends.
VECO’s Corrupt Bastards Club – Barbados Chapter
So far the known membership of the CBC Barbados includes…
Owen Arthur
Mia Mottley
Dale Marshall
Arthur and Mottley are on the list because they took money from VECO. Marshall is on the list for being a corrupt bastard that covered-up for his friends.
Folks, let us know if there are others who should be on the list. Some of the BFP staff want to include current Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson for his reluctance to investigate the VECO scandal and failure to ask the FBI for access to their evidence against Barbados politicians.
We’re going to consider adding Thompson to the list, but we’d like some input from other citizens first.
Let us know what you think, folks!
Further Reading
Alaska Report: Case Against Senator Stephens Growing
Wikipedia: Corrupt Bastards Club
Anchorage Daily News: Corrupt Bastards Club – From Barroom Joke To Federal Warrants
Washington Post: Busting Alaska’s Corrupt Bastards Club
Barbados Free Press
May 26, 2007 – How Much Cash Did Corrupt VECO USA Executives Provide To Barbados Labour Party As “Campaign Donations” ?
May 30, 2007 – Who Did Barbados Prison Consulting?… VECO Paid Alaska Bribes Through “Consulting” Contracts With Politicians’ Relatives!!!!!
August 25, 2007 – Barbados Jail Builder VECO Added As Defendant In Lawsuit Against Prime Minister Arthur and Chief Justice Simmons
July 22, 2008 – CNN.com Links To Keltruth ‘VECO Barbados Jail Fraud’ Story – Big Step For Little Barbados Blog
Barbados Free Press 