A high court judge in New York has given permission to oil investor, Jack Grynberg to make moves to try and obtain the controversial money video tape involving Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell.
The Grenadian leader is accused of accepting US$500, 000.00 in bribe money from international conman, Eric Restiner in Switzerland in June 2000 in exchange for a diplomatic posting.
Dr. Mitchell has maintained his innocence, saying that he accepted "approximately US$15, 000.00 from Resteiner to cover the cost of an investment promotion trip to Europe and Kuwait.
The video-tape is said to be lodged in safe-keeping in Boston where Resteiner is awaiting sentence after pleading guilty to multiple wire and mail fraud.
Grynberg has levelled bribery accusations against Grenada's deputy prime minister, Gregory Bowen and is seeking to obtain the video-tape to use as evidence in his court battles against the Number two man in St. George's.
His lawyer, Daniel Abrams wrote to the judge in the matter, Denise Cote to get permission to serve a subpoena on Resteiner to get a copy of the tape."It is plaintiffs contention that bribery is the norm at the highest levels of the Grenadian Government, and that Mr. Resteiner's tape and testimony may be probative and admissible herein, and/or lead to discovery of admissible evidence". Abrams told the judge.
GRENADA TODAY was able to obtain a copy of the letter from the court in New York for reproduction:
Re: RSM Production et al v. Fridman et al. 06 Civ. 11512
Dear Judge Cote:
I am counsel for the Plaintiffs and I write, pursuant to your Honor's individual Rules and Local Rule 37.2, to request a pre-motion conference in advance of a motion to open discovery for the limited purpose of serving a subpoena on Eric Resteiner.
By way of brief background, this case was filed on November 1, 2006. Plaintiffs allege that defendant Gregory Bowen, the "number 2" leader in Grenada who serves directly under Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, demanded that Plaintiffs provide him a bribe if they wanted to continue doing business with the government of Grenada.
When plaintiffs refused, Mr. Bowen found the other individual defendants, who were all too willing to facilitate a bribe despite knowledge of plaintiffs' on-going existing relationship and existing contract with the Government of Grenada.
The Defendants tortiously interfered with plaintiffs contract and economic relationship with Grenada, and as a result Plaintiffs have been harmed while each Defendant has benefitted handsomely.
None of the Defendants have appeared as of this date. There is presently a default application pending as to Gregory Bowen, who failed to serve an answer on time but has since retained counsel. The Order to Show Cause on the default is presently scheduled for April 2, 2007.
While pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(d) no discovery takes place "from any source before the parties have conferred as required by Rule 16(f)," an event which has not occurred and cannot meaningfully occur until the parties have appeared, the same rule allows such discovery pursuant to Court order.
Here, Plaintiffs have become aware of a videotape which shows the Prime Minister of Grenada, Keith Mitchell, accepting what Plaintiffs understand to be a $500,000 all-in -cash bribe from Mr. Resteiner.
In a sentencing Memorandum filed on October 25, 2006 with the District Court of Massachusetts, counsel for Mr. Resteiner, John Amabile, Esq., notes his client's cooperation in procuring "video evidence portraying an alleged bribe of a foreign head of state, the Prime Minister of Grenada". The sentencing Memorandum is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
According to Mr. Amabile, the United States took the position that Mr. Resteiner would not cooperate with the Grenadian authorities investigating a possible bribe unless there was an official Grenadian request through diplomatic channels. Exh. A at 3.
No such request was made, which is hardly surprising since the head of state that had to make the request would have been incriminated by the evidence.
I spoke with Mr. Amabile on March 8, 2007. According to Mr. Amabile, Mr. Resteiner has been incarcerated for approximately three years, but has not been sentenced.
His sentencing is expected to take place in approximately mid-April. The defense will be asking for a 33-41 month guideline range (See Exhibit A at 2).
If the defense position on the guideline range prevails, and Mr. Resteiner is given credit for time served, then Mr. Resteiner may very well be near the conclusion of his incarceration.
According to Mr. Amabile, Mr. Resteiner is not an American citizen. He was extradited here from Singapore (Exh. A at 1). There is a substantial possibility that Mr. Resteiner will be deported at the conclusion of his incarceration.
It is plaintiffs contention that bribery is the norm at the highest levels of the Grenadian Government, and that Mr. Resteiner's tape and testimony may be probative and admissible herein, and/or lead to discovery of admissible evidence.
Plaintiffs respectfully seek permission to serve a subpoena on Mr. Resteiner, while Mr. Resteiner is still incarcerated in a federal prison and therefore in the United States. Towards that end, we seek a conference at the Court's earliest convenience.
Respectfully Submitted,
Daniel L. Abrams
