ST. THOMAS — Attorneys representing former Governor of the Virgin Islands John P. de Jongh on Tuesday moved to dismiss the case levied against their client by the Virgin Islands Department of Justice, under the helm of Acting Attorney General Claude Walker, which alleges that the former two-term governor\u00a0embezzled public funds and neglected to repay those funds in violation of Virgin Islands criminal code.<\/p>\n
But documents of the motion to dismiss, provided to The Consortium on Tuesday afternoon, derides the suit as a “politically-driven, poorly conceived vendetta initiated by the current governor, whom Governor de Jongh defeated handily in his last reelection campaign in 2010.”<\/p>\n
“This sham prosecution is a disgrace both upon the Virgin Islands Department of Justice and the Governor’s Office,” the motion states.<\/p>\n
Mr. de Jongh’s attorneys also pointed out what they deem the irony of the DOJ’s suit against the former governor, contending that the DOJ’s claim of theft by Mr. de Jongh of $490,000 of government funds to conduct repairs at his personal residence, and to build a security fence — which the attorneys strongly disagree with — pales in comparison to Governor Kenneth Mapp’s living expenses on the backs of the territory’s taxpayers.<\/p>\n
“Ironically, in the short time that the current governor has been in office, he has apparently already spent such an obscene amount of Virgin Islands taxpayer money on so-called “living expenses” — $12,500.00 per month residential lease<\/a><\/span> now superseded by the daily cost of a suite at the Virgin Islands’ most expensive hotel<\/a><\/span>, the Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas, $16,000 for limousine and a car service on a recent trip to New York City, $18,000 for air travel in connection with said trip, $5,300 for sheets and bed clothes, and $65,000 per year for the governor’s “personal chef”, to name a few — that it will quickly dwarf \u00a0the amount at issue here, which consists of security costs for the entire eight years that Gov. de Jongh was in office — and even then, much of which Gov. de Jongh had offered to pay,” reads the motion.<\/p>\n