Florida Judge Orders St. Lucia Company In COVID-19 Vaccine Suit To Present Citizenship Of Defendants

By NAN Staff Writer

News Americas, FORT LAUDERDALE, Fl, Thurs. Sept. 23, 2021: A Florida judge has ordered a St. Lucia-registered, Barbados-based company to present proof detailing the citizenship of each individual they are suing or face a dismissal of its lawsuit, News Americas has found.

The case, as detailed by Barbados Today, relates to the purchase of AstraZeneca vaccines by Radical Investments, owned by developer Mark Maloney, as part of a regional bulk-purchasing arrangement between the Barbados, St Lucia and Bahamas governments.

Radical Investments is suing Good Vibrations Entertainment LLC, the purported supplier of the vaccines and a number of other businesses and individuals involved in the attempt to purchase the vaccines. The order for the jabs was never fulfilled leaving the plaintiff millions of dollars out-of-pocket.

Radical Investments Ltd.’s court claim is that it was deceived and lured into an elaborate scam to advance the sum of US$10.2 million for one million non-existent doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The claim alleges that on or around late March or early April, 2021, Maloney, the principal of Radical Investments, was introduced by Cheryl Chamley, a Trinidadian national who resides in the United States and works in the PPE sector to the principal of Good Vibrations Alex Lee Moore.

But U.S. District Court Judge, Aileen M. Cannon, ruled that “before the Court may assess whether there is diversity jurisdiction, Plaintiff must submit allegations or proof detailing the citizenship of each of the individual members of Defendants Good Vibrations Entertainment, LLC, Prestige Pegasus, LLC, and RDS Cargo Group DWC, LLC.”

“The citizenship of one member may destroy federal diversity jurisdiction if complete diversity of citizenship does not exist between the defendant and all of the members of a plaintiff limited liability company,” the judge wrote in Fort Pierce.

The plaintiff has until September 24th to file an amended complaint clarifying the citizenship of each individual member of the defendant Limited Liability companies specified or face a dismissal of the case.

Maloney is a builder and housing developer in the Caribbean and no health care expert.

ST. LUCIA

On July 1, 2021, the Government of Saint Lucia out out a statement saying that along with The Bahamas and Barbados, it initiated a bulk purchase of Astra Zeneca vaccines, through Radical.

“Saint Lucia’s contribution towards this arrangement was seven million three hundred and thirty-five thousand, six hundred and thirty Eastern Caribbean dollars and fifty-six cents (EC$7,335,630.56) to secure one hundred thousand (100,000) vials of the vaccine.

“The Government of Saint Lucia, through the Ministry of Health and Wellness, approved this purchase through Radical Investments Limited, following verifications by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health and Wellness to ensure the capacity of the supplier,” the government stated. “At the time of the transaction, there was much uncertainty with regard to the supply of COVID-19 vaccines around the world and the Government was actively seeking reliable sources for the vaccine. The partnership with two other CARICOM countries provided the best avenue to do so.”

On Wednesday, former PM Allan Chastanet confirmed to Barbados Today that they worked through Radical.