Thomas: Baptiste was not an NDC Financier

Leader of the  island's main Opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Tillman Thomas, says that allegations that the party's financier is jailed in New York is totally unfounded.

Speaking to GRENADA TODAY last week Thursday via the telephone, Thomas admitted that 45-year old Grenadian from Chantimelle, St Patrick, Delbert Baptiste, was a member of the New York Chapter for a number of years assisting in raising funds for the party.

But according to Thomas, the jailed Grenadian has never been a direct financier of the party nor its 2003 election campaign as is being alleged by the operatives of the ruling New National Party (NNP) of Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell.

The Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes last week sentenced Baptiste to three to nine years in prison for a mortgage fraud scheme totaling more than $2 million after he pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree.

It is alleged that Baptiste worked for the Congress party in the 2003 general election and helped to  provide the majority of T-shirts used by NDC party supporters. Thomas pointed out that a number of Grenadians living in New York often contribute towards the development of the party by holding fund-raising activities

According to an article published, Baptiste used the property at 600 St. Mark's Place in Crown Heights to defraud several mortgage companies.

He repeatedly recruited acquaintances to pose as purchasers and allow their credit to be used in order to obtain mortgages in their names. These individuals were merely straw buyers and Baptiste, in fact, retained control of the property and resold it several times at inflated values, thus realizing a profit.

For their participation in the scheme, straw buyers received a payment from Baptiste. The article stated that between June 01 and October 29, 2003, Baptiste arranged to obtain a $512,000 loan from a US Mortgage property and purchased the property.

The straw buyer earned $10,000; Baptiste earned $69,000. In 2003 and 2005, Baptiste again arranged for the fraudulent sale of the property at inflated values, thus obtaining several additional fraudulent mortgages, totaling $1.5 million.