Bishop John I. Cline has called out the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for allegedly being influenced by the United Kingdom to prosecute citizens of the Virgin Islands. Photo: Facebook

Mrs Tiffany R. Scatliffe-Esprit is currently the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Photo: Facebook

Bishop Cline went live on Facebook on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, to give his views into the Auditor General’s 2024 Report, which was recently published. 

He mentioned cases brought against residents employed in the public service by the DPP, which have ended in not guilty verdicts that are now being appealed. 

VI is haemorrhaging money

The Virgin Islands, he said, is “haemorrhaging money”  because of this. 

He mentioned the cases of Dr Carolyn O'Neal-Morton, the then Permanent Secretary to former Premier Andrew A. Fahie; Najan Christopher, Director of the International Affairs Secretariat; Commissioner of Customs Wade N. Smith; Postmistress General Pascha Stoutt; and Roberto Harrigan, aka 'Tico', a former Customs Officer. 

“All of them won their cases, all of them are on either full salary or half salary…for the last three years, they have been paid…you have these people at home because after they won their cases, the DPP decided that was not good enough, so, she is appealing their cases, while these peope sit at home for 4,5 years, God knows how long it is going to take.”

Bishop Cline said the list does not stop there, as police officers, too, were targeted.

Stop letting the UK use you

To the DPP and the Attorney General’s Chambers, he said, “Whether you’re losing cases because of your own incompetence or you’re losing cases because you ain’t got no case in the first place, you’re losing the case them. And if you’re working on behalf of the UK, stop letting the United Kingdom use you as a tool against your own people. Stop it.”

He called on the powers that be to withdraw the appeals, allowing the public officers to go back to work. 

“You want to go prosecute corruption? There's enough, but you didn’t find anything here…you have them at home sitting down, while you trying to figure out how you could prosecute them, and you got to pay them while they sit home. Some of them on half salary.”

He also said this causes additional strain on the Territory’s finances. 

“No wonder, they does say we don’t have no money, because the money, instead of going into infrastructure development, economic expansion, it’s going into people’s pockets, and that’s not right.”