Gaston Browne threw away his tactical victory in U.S. court by filing an Alfa Nero defamation case in Antigua. That poorly advised action dragged his son Andron into the legal matter – right into the hands of Alfa Nero attorney Martin De Luca.
Browne had won a procedural matter in U.S. court on Alfa Nero discovery. But when he sued De Luca and BSF, the Boies Schiller Flexner law firm, for defamation in Antigua and Barbuda, the prime minister triggered other laws into motion.
A supplemental motion that BSF filed yesterday (available here) explains how the laws of the U.S. and Antigua and Barbuda work in cases like this.
In a nutshell, Antigua and Barbuda law permits those accused of defamation to collect discovery abroad in order to build their defence.
In the case of Gaston Browne versus De Luca and BSF, the laws of both countries permit discovery of financial and other records of Gaston A. Browne III, who lives in Florida, because he has been his father’s financial “proxy.”
Gaston’s legal team apparently advised him of the wisdom of suing De Luca and BSF for defamation in Antigua – but in so doing, the prime minister’s lawyers trigged a “major development” that permits Mrs. Guryeva-Motlokhov and her legal team to investigate Browne’s financial networks even further, thanks to the discovery that Antigua and Barbuda law permits the accused.
This article is a layperson’s analysis, not a legal one. Let’s see exactly what De Luca’s April 28 supplemental motion to the U.S. federal court says:
“… major developments have significantly strengthened the case for discovery. First, Prime Minister Gaston Browne (‘Browne’) himself has brought the truth regarding the Alfa Nero sale to the forefront by suing Guryeva-Motlokhov’s counsel for defamation in Antigua,” the motion says. “By challenging those sessions in a defamation action, Browne has placed the financial records connecting the sale and flow of funds – precisely the evidence Applicants seek here – at issue in a foreign proceeding.”
This first major development benefits from a second: new “evidence that Browne personally negotiated a US $6 million kickback – disguised as a ‘consulting fee’ – in exchange for selling the Alfa Nero at a steeply discounted price.
MariaBirdBrowne.com reported on this the other day. The new supplemental motion refers to “members of Browne’s inner circle,” which includes Andron the Proxy, in addition to the Alfa Nero yacht brokers who are also in Florida:
Therefore, the expected discovery in Florida “is expected to be used in two ongoing civil proceedings in Antigua and Barbuda,” as the supplemental memo says:
The first Antigua proceeding is the defamation case that Browne filed earlier this year. “Antiguan law recognizes several defenses to defamation, including truth of the statements made, fair comment, and qualified privilege,” the supplemental memorandum says.
“The BSF Respondents” – De Luca and the firm – “intend to utilize discovery obtained through this Amended Application in the Antigua Defamation Action,” which “goes directly to the core disputes in the Antigua Defamation Action – including how the Alfa Nero was seized and sold….”
The Lady’s lawyers expect to learn of “Browne’s involvement in the transaction and receipt of any benefits associated with it, and what happened to the sale proceeds.” We already know of the involvement of Ronald Sanders and Anthony Astaphan in certain aspects.
Thus Browne gave De Luca and all at BSF – Mrs. Guryeva-Molokhov’s counsel – a present when he sued them for defamation: “The financial records will likely reveal a paper trail of illicit payments directly to the individuals who acted on Browne’s behalf.”
Was Andron part of that illicit payments in Alfa Nero? Discovery will find out.
Since the BSF attorneys “are defendants in the Antigua Defamation Action arising from statements concerning the seizure and sale of the Alfa Nero,” the memorandum continues, they “have a direct and concrete interest in obtaining evidence for use before a foreign tribunal, including evidence bearing on the truth of the challenged statements.”
The memorandum explains how Browne’s defamation suit triggered the legal mechanism that’s going to bullbud the entire Gaston Browne Crime Family:
To prove or disprove De Luca’s and BSF’s statements about Browne’s criminal behaviour, the defendants need the hidden financial records: “Therefore, the discovery sought is critical to mounting a meaningful defense against the defamation claim advanced by Prime Minister Browne.”
Mrs. Guryeva-Motlokhov now “has a procedural mechanism enabling admission of the evidence sought in this Amended Application before the High Court in the Antiguan Proceedings.”
All thanks to Gaston Browne and his lawyers.
The “financial records for the Alfa Nero sale” will “identify the individuals and entities who benefitted from the Vessel’s seizure and sale,” De Luca’s memo says, which can wrap up the corruption network both in the United States and in the Antigua and Barbuda High Court.
It appears that De Luca is looking forward to Browne’s defamation duel. “Once De Luca is served, he will have the same opportunity to file defenses and submit documentary evidence.”
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