cruise ships in (or at least not too many!). The place gets swamped with
fat middle aged women being trailed round the shops by bored looking husbands.
I think Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the worst.
Reply:
What a nasty way to put it!
Reply:
I just can't believe what I read.
Reply:
How rude and uninformed. The size of the passengers is irrelevant.
t seems St. Thomas might be dubbed “Scam Island” for all the apparent flimflamming going on these days.
After local real estate broker Rosemary Sauter apparently fled with as much as $2.5 million from her RE/MAX Dream Properties escrow accounts, provoking a region-wide manhunt by local and federal authorities last week, the V.I. Department of Justice announced another arrest early this week that made Sauter’s alleged sins look venal in comparison.
Acting on a warrant issued after a lengthy investigation by the V.I. Department of Justice’s White Collar Crime and Public Corruption Division, U.S. Marshals on Monday arrested St. Thomas resident Janice Dorette Rey in Dade County, Fla.
Rey, 48, a native of Anguilla, is accused of defrauding numerous V.I. residents of more than $3 million, according to a statement issued by the DOJ late Thursday.
Operating out of her office in the Times Center Building under the storefront name, Rey Financial LLC, Rey acted as an agent of the apparent shell company, Paramount Group LLC, promising “risk-free” “double returns” on her victims' investments, according to the DOJ statement.
“Rey failed to pay victims their principal investment or any returns/proceeds from that investment, when it became due or anytime thereafter, as she had promised,” the statement said. “Instead, Rey issued worthless checks to some of her victims.”
Rey is charged with Obtaining Money by False Pretense, Drawing and Delivering Worthless Checks, Securities Fraud, and Being an Unregistered Broker-Dealer.
The investigation revealed that Rey launched her scheme on unwitting Virgin Islanders as early as 2007. After a long joint investigation, V.I. Superior Court Judge James Carroll III issued a warrant for her arrest on Dec. 10.
“The number of Virgin Islanders allegedly affected by the scheme continues to grow along with the amount of the fraud, as complainants continue to come forward and the investigation into the matter continues,” DOJ officials wrote in Thursday’s statement.
Neither Janice Dorette Rey, Paramount Group, nor Rey Financial Services were registered as broker-dealers of Securities in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The investigation further revealed that Paramount Group, LLC, was a shell company owned and operated by Rey, the statement said.
Rey is being held by the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department on $1.1 million bail.
The DOJ urges anyone who suspects that they may have been defrauded by J Rey to immediately contact V.I.Department of Justice Special Agent James McCall or the White Collar Crime and Public Corruption Division at 774-5666 x125.
Reviewers Rating: Excellent
We had Calamari and it was cooked perfect and plenty for 3 people.
I had pistachio encrusted Maui Maui on goat cheese salad.
Reviewers Rating: Excellent
What a jewel in paradise. Perfect for lunch after Salt Pond or Rams head hike.
Drinks Boom Boom and Drink right drive left some of the best on the island.
Loved the fish taco's and lobster roll.
shipwrech 02/04/2010
Reviewers Rating: Excellent
We ate here twice on our trip.
The spicy scallops keybobs was one of my favorite meals of the trip.
To me the Foo Foo drinks are alittle pricy and not as good as other places.
but I love the food here.
Reviewers Rating: Excellent
My DH had Maui Maui and my daughter had barbecued king prawns
with sweet potato chips and a wonderful Asian slaw. I had read a review
that said the portion was small for the prawns she felt there was plenty
and she was too full for desert.
My husband declared the keylime pie the best he has ever had.
We tried a couple things from the Pu Pu menue.
OK...Now that I know all of you hang out nakie at the villa. Does anyone get nakie at the beach? Reply: |
Although it's illegal and deemed very disrepectful on STJ, I've taken off my trunks more than once after I'm in the water. Don't hate me, everybody! It's only on occassions where we're either completely alone or out of eyeshot of others whom I hope to not offend. Not for nothing, but I'll most likely do it again in April. |
A grand opening was held Saturday morning for the Virgin Islands Port Authority's long-awaited Lindbergh Bay Beach Public Restroom Facility. It was an event the likes of which haven’t been seen. It was definitely the place to go.
The fanfare was complete with music, dignitaries galore, a catered lunch, and dozens of beach regulars out to celebrate the new bathhouse.
The construction of the public bathrooms at the beach was made possible by a $200,008 grant from the Virgin Islands government, and additional funding from the Port Authority.
In a shocking twist to an already tangled trial, one of two V.I. police officers being retried on extortion and money-laundering charges took the stand in his own defense in District Court Thursday, denying he ever gave statements that two federal agents have testified to and denying he accepted a bribe—one he was shown taking in video footage presented to the jury.
VIPD Sgt. George Greene is accused of accepting a $5,000 payoff from Richard Motta, a suspected drug dealer-turned FBI informant, in exchange for returning seized property and for destroying a kilo of counterfeit drugs rather than turn them over to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
As the final witness on the final day of the second trial, Greene stunned many in the courtroom Thursday, first by taking the stand and then by so radically altering his original defense that prosecutors were left stammering, forced to ask the judge for time to regroup
“Not now,” the judge replied, seeming as interested as everyone else in the courtroom to hear what Greene would say next.Among other things, Greene said that he did not know Motta was giving him money at the time; that Motta dropped $4,000, not $5,000, cash in his squad car; and that he’s had the money stashed securely in a safe he’s kept at his mother’s house all along.
However belatedly, Greene even produced a receipt for the money Thursday ---- albiet one he said he wrote to himself.
Jurors, who had appeared to sleep through much of the earlier testimony, sat upright and swiveled their heads from side to side, from witness stand to lectern, like spectators at a tennis match as attorneys for the defense and the prosecution bounced questions to Greene, who kept knocking out surprise after surprise.
“Do you got the money now?” asked Thurston McKelvin, Greene’s counsel.
“Yes, sir,” Greene replied, eliciting incredulous gasps from the gallery.
In his surprise testimony Thursday, Greene said he met Motta in Frenchtown the night of Dec. 23, 2008, to solicit information about a vague murder-for-hire scheme in which he said he and his supervisor, Saldana, believed Motta was involved.
Video footage of that meeting, obtained by the FBI by fitting Motta with a hidden camera and body wire, showed Motta offering Greene the chance to count the money and Greene turning him down, telling him just to put it in the back of his car.
“You were totally surprised?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nolan Paige asked Greene about Motta’s money during cross-examination.
“Yeah,” Greene said. “It was in a wad. He just rest [sic] the wad in” the car, he said.
Paige asked him to admit that he took the money in exchange for destroying the fake drugs.
“There was never any talk about any substance,” Greene said defiantly. “It was all about getting the black pad back that was part of the murder-for-hire.”
With those final words, Greene had crossed out of bounds, beyond testimonial territory that the attorneys had agreed upon since no one was on trial for murder-for-hire ---- an unsubstantiated sideshow that has sidetracked much of the trial so far.
Paige, in turn, let slip a faux pas of his own while they were outside the lines.
“By the way,” Paige said to Greene, appearing to be giving up and walking away. “Do you have any felony convictions?”
Before anyone in the courtroom could stop him, Greene answered, “Yeah. Yes I do.”
Greene was convicted last week on two federal weapons charges and faces up to 11 years in prison ---- if he beats the charges against him now.
After Greene’s voluntary admission before the jury, heads fell in hands. People on the defense side grimaced and sneered. Whispering huddles formed among the federal agents and U.S. Attorney’s office personnel on the prosecution side.
The judge called for a long sidebar, and then, after much discussion and head-shaking, returned all the players to their positions and cautioned the jury to disregard what they’d just heard.
Judge Gomez said he would instruct the jury Thursday morning before attorneys give their closing arguments, which, given the stakes, are sure to be dramatic.
After that, it will be up to the jury to decide.
Greetings, I appreciate any responses/advice I receive. We are a family of four (two young teen boys and my husband and I) on a venture to St. John in a few weeks. We got a good rate for three nights at the Westin which will be a nice transition to the island. I am on a limited budget and the thought of paying $200. to just get us to the resort isn't going over well. I understand that I can take an inexpensive taxi from the airport to the bus stop and get the public (Dollar or Safari) bus for $2. each to the Red Hook ferry. Not sure whether or not we need a vehicle when we get to St. John for the three nites that we are at the Westin? Is it a long taxi ride to the resort and will my kids be entertained enough for three nites there or should we go off and explore so we have a vehicle
throughout ? I have no idea where we are going for the following four nites; maybe a camp ground or some funky inexpensive beach house or hotel on another part of the island. Any suggestions ? Also, any suggestions for the boys? They are 13 and 14 and love baskeball- good restaurants? We require no frills-
Is it worth to pay $100? another option will be with public transportation (ferry).
Please le me know your experience and suggestion.
Thank you very much!
And after seven replies, and in each reply, the poster spelled Caneel correctly:
Thank you all! I am counting my days and so looking forward to this trip to Caneey Bay in Jan.
