Long before Rochamel and Grynberg there was ‘the U.N. Funds Scandal!’

Dr. Charles Flemming has died. According to reliable overseas sources, the former Saint Lucia ambassador to the U.N. passed away recently and was interred at Kenisco cemetery in “the hamlet of Valhalla,” Westchester, New York. Flemming, especially remembered for his sartorial elegance, was also widely admired for his oratory and his wit. He was the central figure in what became known in 1995 as “the U.N. Funds Scandal.”

Despite that he was Saint Lucia’s face and voice at the United Nations, few Saint Lucians at home and abroad had heard of Charles Flemming until the scandal that thrust several of the nation’s more puffed-up political figures reluctantly into a spotlight they would’ve done almost anything to avoid. The group included permanent secretaries, government ministers, the deceased chairman of the United Workers Party (represented by a retired attorney general), foreign affairs personnel, not to mention the day’s prime minister himself.

At a related highly controversial commission of inquiry, John Compton was forced to admit before a panel that comprised top-tier legal eagles from Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago that he was misled by one of his most trusted government officials.  But enough, for now. Look out for more details of how thousands of dollars extracted from the UNDP, ostensibly for official use in Saint Lucia, disappeared without trace. If you never knew the origin of the “I was duped” line that sought to excuse the surreptitious withdrawal of more thousands of dollars from the Consolidated Fund, by an individual charged with operating the nation’s public service, then you won’t want to miss next week’s STAR online!