By Whithfield Turner From Caribbean News Now

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent — The prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, has issued a forceful denial to claims of financial wrongdoing on his part.

The claims began circulating on social media on Sunday, three days before Vincentians vote for a new government on Wednesday.

Via his Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) Facebook page, Gonsalves denied holding a Swiss bank account with millions of US dollars in it.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Gonsalves said he has instructed the Attorney General Judith Jones Morgan to contact the United States government immediately under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty to investigate a fraudulent bank document said to be proof of an alleged bank account domiciled at an address in Brooklyn, New York.

He has also instructed the Commissioner of Police Michael Charles to open a criminal investigation locally into the fraudulent document.

This investigation is said to include any regional or international operatives currently working in St Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as the involvement of INTERPOL, the Regional Security System (RSS) and the Joint Regional Intelligence Fusion Centre of IMPACS to assist in the investigation.

Gonsalves, who is minister of national security and legal affairs, has also instructed the commissioner of police to alert the director of public prosecution (DPP) to these investigations.

His statement said it is illegal under American, French, Swiss, European Union and Vincentian law to fabricate documents and make slanderous and untrue allegations against individuals.

The statement added that checks confirm that the account number given in what it called a fraudulent document does not exist.

The prime minister has therefore requested the relevant authorities in St Vincent and the Grenadines, the United States, Switzerland, France and the European Union to investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to justice.

This “monumental lie”, the statement said, indicates the extent to which the opponents of the ULP will go to gain political power.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves

For more on this story go to:
http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-St-Vincent-PM-denies-financial-wrongdoing-days-before-election-28608.html