Saunders: Roper alleged MPs involved in organised crime
(CNS): During a Cabinet meeting in December 2022, Martyn Roper, the Cayman Islands governor at the time, accused members of the government of being involved in serious organised crime, Chris Saunders told parliament last week. Saunders tabled two emails written in January 2023, one from Roper to members of Cabinet and the other his response, which referred to the disagreement between them and allegations of imperialism and racism. The correspondence clearly shows Saunders’ contempt for the UK’s previous representative.
An email from Roper sent to Cabinet on 11 January 2023 referred to discussions the day before among members about illegal gambling legislation and why it had not passed in parliament, and said that during those discussions, he had been accused of being a racist.
In his response sent a few hours later, Saunders, the deputy premier and finance minister at the time, said that comments Roper had made at a Cabinet meeting in December 2022 were racist.
In the correspondence, Roper admitted to making some “uncomfortable” comments about why the legislation had not been passed by MPs, though he did not reveal what those comments were. Instead, he suggested that Cabinet dispel the theory by passing the legislation he felt was necessary to deal with the crime associated with gambling.
However, in a very long response, Saunders alleged that the governor had accused the government of “being controlled by organised crime”, an accusation that went well beyond “uncomfortable” but was racist. He also accused Roper of constantly questioning the motives of Cabinet members who disagreed with him.
In his email to the Cabinet members, Roper said Saunders had not only accused him of racism but had said he should “go home, the sooner the better”, which Roper suggested was “likely a breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct”.
The government has still not passed the legislation to increase the fines for illegal gambling in the Cayman Islands, which is now recognised as a major criminal enterprise. People here are able to buy illegal numbers under the counter in numerous locations, such as bars, small mini-marts, barber shops, salons and other small businesses, for lotteries that take place all over the region.
The PACT government had made the decision prior to these Cabinet meetings to withdraw a proposed gambling bill and put it to a parliamentary select committee.
However, it appears that Roper was keen to see the government address the issue more quickly. “I have not heard any overwhelming arguments for delay. Our law enforcement experts advise me action is necessary and needed now to protect our community. I ask Cabinet colleagues to reconsider their positions and engage with the Select Committee process.”
In his response to Roper’s email, Saunders said while the governor was quick to accuse him of breaching the Ministerial Code of Conduct, he had failed to recognise that his own behaviour and language were “imperialistic, offensive, and condescending in nature” and his “default position was that the government was controlled by organized crime”.
“And the worst part is Governor, you were oblivious to your comments even after 5 of 8 Cabinet Ministers left immediately at the end of Cabinet and refused to break bread with you at what was to be your last Christmas lunch here in the Cayman Islands. It is your inability to see your actions why we are now in this position,” Saunders wrote in his email.
He said that Roper’s threats to use section 81 of the Constitution (which deals with the governor’s reserved poser) and the constant questioning of ministers’ motives were “highly unprofessional and completely unacceptable”, given that they were all duly elected representatives of the people of the Cayman Islands.
Saunders also pointed out that then-premier Wayne Panton had spent the previous 21 months trying to find a balance between the governor’s priorities and those of his elected colleagues.
“He has done it with a lot of patience and professionalism, sometimes to the detriment of his standing with his colleagues and your comment last December was not just uncomfortable, but a slap in his face also. Do you honestly think that he would lead a group of Ministers that were influenced by organized crime?” Saunders asked.
Two and a half months after this exchange of emails, Saunders was fired from the PACT government amid allegations of bullying in his office and differences of opinion with Panton on policy. However, the row between the governor and Roper also seems to have played a role in the breakdown of relationships within Cabinet.
When he reflected on this issue in parliament during the referendum debate last week, Saunders spoke about how Roper had tried to get the previous premier, Sir Alden McLaughlin, to bring the bill, but he had refused. Then Roper had tried again with PACT.
Speaking about that January 2023 Cabinet meeting and the five ministers who had left abruptly afterwards, he took aim at the members who had not left, implying that they had failed to defend Caymanians.
One of the referendum questions to be put to voters on Election Day in April is whether or not they support a national lottery. If the answer is ‘yes’ and a local Cayman lottery is rolled out, the sanctions for illegal gambling would likely be increased.
See the communication from Saunders and Roper below:
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Is this the Saunders who XXXX
CNS: No. That was Dwayne Seymour.
Please Cayman let us get rid of this fool
If I were you Jamaica Chris I would leave that one alone two sayings one is stirring S%@# the other is the stone throwing in the pig pen ! Mr HSBC??
Did parliament really allowed him to hide under their umbrella ☂️ and say all of that
VOTE THEM ALL OUT CAYMAN
‘It is your inability to see your actions why we are now in this position,” Saunders wrote in his email.’
Really Saunders? Talking about yourself again LMAO
The Governor is responsible for national security and good governance. I’d imagine as head of security of these islands will be briefed on all police intelligence. So Gov Roper must have had good reason to make such allegations.
Everyone is a racist in Chris’s world. Sadly that is his excuse for not doing his job and XXXX. The only good thing Wayne did as Premier was fire Saunders.
What ever happened to the allegations of corruption ( kickbacks for the large Covid tests purchase that he had no business doing. I hope the Commission is still working on that one. An waht about the $100K fine for breaking laws as a director. A real piece of work.
What an idiot for publishing his email! Only makes him look bad and roper look good. LOL
Banana Republic. VOTE HIM OUT!
CNS: To clarify, CIMA fined Cainvest Bank for not adhering to Anti-Money Laundering Regulations. Saunders was its managing director at the time.
Too bad roper didn’t implement direct rule and rid the islands of these sores. Of course they are a cartel. Take one look at what they did this week to the NCC board. I ask why? Greed and side deals with the special interests. I hope the Uk start to take a closer look seed out these corrupted politicians.
The UK would gladly decouple from problematic BOT’s, especially those with KYD$2bln in bad faith hidden liabilities. Both the UK and Dart are unified in the mission to see the Cayman Islands go bust. This is why they are perfectly happy to sit back and observe. Voters are the ones that let our MPs run this roughshod self-terminating operation. Perhaps the most apathetic lot in modern democratic history.
Fund ME
I think I will start a “Go-Fund-Me” page to support having ELON MUSK come here with his team of geniuses for a year after he is finished with the US GOVERNMENT. I’m sure they will be ready to enjoy the warm waters of the Caribbean after being frozen in Washington, DC. Let’s see what they can find hidden in our incredible online files.
If you disagree with any of Saunders views, then you must be a racist
“you must be a racist” type logic is flawed. True freedom is the right to disagree without being labled.
Anyone remember a few years ago when CIMA issued a public enforcement notice for CI$100,000 discretionary fine on Cainvest Bank and Trust Limited for breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations when allegedly the managing director of the company was Chris Saunders …
Another Racist action against you Saunders, or was your incompetence revealed.?
The Governor thinks cabinet ministers are involved with organised crime, but absolutely nothing happens. So much for relying on the UK as a safety net.
in roper i trust!
A Missive from the Secretary to the Ambassador of Absurdistan: An Alarming Discovery of Scandalous Proportions
To Whom It May Concern, and to Those Who Prefer Not to Be Concerned at All,
It is with a most profound sense of alarm—nay, an existential horror most befitting of an overbudget Shakespearean tragedy—that I must report a development so grotesque, so stupefying in its brazenness, that even the most dedicated functionaries of Absurdistani governance have been left aghast, speechless, and momentarily disoriented by its sheer audacity.
We, the humble observers of global folly, have long suspected that the Caymanian incumbents were not merely incompetent but actively malevolent. But never—never, I say!—did we expect them to be so deliriously, catastrophically self-destructive as to expose their own misdeeds in a public forum! And yet, here we are.
The Scandal that Unraveled Itself
It seems that in the grand theatre of lunacy that is Caymanian politics, one Chris Saunders, a man who oscillates between populist hero and Machiavellian architect of financial calamity, has dropped a bombshell of such magnitude that one must wonder if he tripped over the fuse on his way to the podium.
He has revealed that, in December 2022, then-Governor Martyn Roper openly accused members of the Cayman government of entanglements with organized crime. An accusation so grave, so utterly damning, that one would expect immediate and urgent action—an emergency session of Parliament! Raids! Investigations! Summon the Arbites!
But what happened instead?
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
Not a single arrest. Not a single name named. No tribunals, no consequences—only a long, agonizing silence, as though Cayman’s ruling elite collectively decided that if they ignored the Governor’s remarks long enough, perhaps the public would, too.
A Bureaucratic Ballet of Hypocrisy and Inaction
And here, dear citizens of the Realm of Rational Thought, lies the true insult to our intelligence:
• If these allegations were baseless, then why did no one demand immediate and absolute proof of their falsehood?
• If they were true, then why did the government not take immediate action to root out corruption in its ranks?
• If Roper was merely engaging in imperialist slander, as Saunders claims, then why—why!—is the UPM still stalling gambling reform, the very industry at the heart of these allegations?
The cognitive dissonance is overwhelming. Here we have a government desperately trying to avoid acknowledging criminal influence while simultaneously refusing to pass legislation that would combat the very crimes they claim are not happening!
This is the equivalent of standing in a burning building, refusing to call the fire brigade, and then claiming the flames are a foreign conspiracy—all while fanning the embers into a full-blown inferno.
A Grim Forecast for the Cayman Islands
The Secretary to the Ambassador of Absurdistan regrets to inform you that the climate of Absurdistan is currently spreading at an alarming rate. The air is thick with hypocrisy, the rivers run with unchecked greed, and the forests—those few that remain—whisper the same unspoken truth:
The ruling class is not merely failing the Cayman Islands; it is actively ensuring its destruction.
We are witnessing an unprecedented act of self-sabotage, a government so embroiled in its own rot that it cannot tell the difference between governance and organized crime—or, perhaps, sees no difference at all.
Final Words Before the Curtain Falls
And so, as this farce lurches toward its inevitable crescendo, the Secretary to the Ambassador of Absurdistan asks:
How much longer will the people tolerate this theatre of deceit? How many more scandals must be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the light before the electorate realizes that their so-called leaders are not merely corrupt but actively complicit in their own downfall?
It is no longer a question of if the Cayman Islands will collapse under the weight of its own absurdity—but rather, how soon.
Consider this your final warning before the curtain falls.
With deepest regret and highest exasperation,
The Secretary to the Ambassador of Absurdistan
poor Chris on a scale of 1 to 10 of an competent MP i give him a 2. bernie is 1.
Is this the same Chris Saunders who wanted to put racist and discriminatory taxes on expats who owned property in the Cayman Islands? Double standard much Mr. Saunders!
LMFAO do you know what racist and discriminatory means? take that somewhere else. expats SHOULD be taxed.
I think you do not understand discrimination! You cannot single out a proportion of the population to be taxed, purely based on their origins
Everyone should be taxed. Fair is fair.
Unfortunately, taxes are not racist and discriminatory. Which tax-free country are you from? Can I suggest you think of returning?
Anybody remembers how the drugs disappeared from the evidence room of the police station back in what — 2016, 2017? And that was not five pounds of weed. Where did they go? Who took them? Kmt! These MPs think we are pre schoolers or what? Vote every single one of them out. MPs and pampers must be changed regularly cause they are both full of shite.
Ahh… were they not supposed to have a Special Committee on gambling? Did that ever happened? And the another special committee for gasoline ? Anyone knows if these ever happened? We pay for all these things and then never hear anything. They pass motions, same thing. What the he L L?
Two select committees were formed. However they rarely met and no report has been issued. Re the Gambling Committee no one was interested in attending to discuss a matter they did not believe in i.e imposing higher fines for gambling.
Cayman hates any one and anything from the UK. Why? Accountability and transparency required. No sah , simple
lmao clearly you don’t know anything about the UK if you think “accountability and transparency” are required to operate there.
14 MPs suspended or removed from parliament in the UK for conduct or offences. 0 in Cayman – because our politicians are all angels.
Turks and Caicos?
FCDO. DIRECT RULE NOW!!
Drain the swamp. Deport every illegal here. Crush the Jamaican cartels. Two elections of direct rule NOW.
And Cireba and the taxi cartel
They can’t rule themselves.
They doth protest too much ….
#roperwasright
#leggewasright
and while we are at it: #brettwasright
Saunders is a fraud! A complete and utter narcissist who loves the sound of his own voice. I hope he gets voted into oblivion.
Governor Roper is a good man who had him and his cronies sussed.
In a circus full of clowns, he is the most clownish. A waste of air.
You’ve heard John John try to speak right?
Ohhhhh yes. He is very talented. Did you not hear the Covid briefings which he delivered fluently in multiple languages? It was the stuff of genius. Having said that, don’t leave a 20 ton bulldozer in the middle of a well lit street.
Go to Jamaica Chris we do not need your rhetoric here.
*back
…and take your slimy ghetto yardie politics with you.!
Come on now, as so called “True Christians”, who do not lie, everybody KNOWS these Islands are run by the “LODGE”. No member of the lodge has EVER been convicted. facts, the local LODGE here in Cayman is run under the foot of the Grand Lodge in Jamaica. They answer to them there.
Its a known FACT the corruption the “LODGE” here, and in Jamaica generate via favourtisms and special treatments.
Why do you think the Standards in Public Life Law cannot, and will never be passed…..
The Lodge members swear an oath by god go serve the lodge. Any body in Gov’t, especially MP’s, have to swear an oath by God too. Who wins in a conflict????
Cash or prayers…..
UNDENIABLE FACTS RIGHT THERE…… GET OFF YOUR BUTTS AND MAKE A CHANGE….
Actually, if you watch when the MPs take office after election, you will hear them all swear by God. It is standard practice.
The standards in public life act was passed…
Your credibility just went to 0
And what is “LoDGE”??
Southern Cross LODGE lol
Amazing that there are 64 fools that agree with these “undeniable facts”. Standards in Public Life passed in 2021. People like you make all Caymanians look stupid. Believing in conspiracy theories about some mysterious Lodge running the country – i’m curious what kind of Lodge – 1 star or 4 star accommodation? tell us about it – who lives there?
Saunders’ email, just wow.
Please don’t let this pompous buffoon anywhere near power again. The email makes him look like an utter child.
Please, BT West, do better!!!
Lost cause BTW all Jamaicans , who will want a fellow countryman like Saunders.
Hopefully still enough Caymanians in BT to make sure that snake is not an MP again.
Unfortunately the entire Island is nothing but Jamaicans bringing along with them their aggressive nature.
This is one Caymanian from BTW that will not be voting for Chris Saunders. Never have and never will.
Osbourne Bodden will get my vote in April.
2022 – Wasn’t Saunders part of the PACT government that brought in an amendment to the Anti-Corruption Act that had the effect of making it almost impossible to prosecute corrupt politicians? Probably just a coincidence……….
What on earth are you talking about?
Juliana gutted the ACA, and added indemnities against prosecution, even against illegal acts.
Politicians being in the pockets of organised crime – hardly news to anyone even remotely conscious.
Politicians being corrupt and selling out Cayman and Caymanians to special interests – not news either
‘Politicians being in the pockets of organised crime – hardly news to anyone even remotely conscious.’
As reported by Net News at least 8-9 years ago in an edition that had to be hastily withdrawn and destroyed. If I remember correctly that story related to funding from the drugs trade.
Chris Saunders, be respectful, people have moms too and you don’t want to send them to the hospital do you?
That’s Mac’s trick , getting sympathy. Saunders should come up with one of his own.
So we can expect Saunders to get a walking stick.?
I tend to agree with the governor. If you are accused of something that is not true an innocent person would fight for the truth not run away of refuse to eat with the governor. The racist thing I would just dismiss, that card is played too often. Two people disagreeing is not racism. I do firmly believe the government is corrupt, but very clever in hiding the money trail.
Roper never Accused, he merely declared that police intelligence sources had reported to him that politicians may be involved in cover ups.
Chris immediately takes this as a racist accusation….. Methinks that pig doth squeal too much.
Surely any upright cabinet member would be anxious to join with the Governor and police to investigate the allegations , to identify and prosecute anyone found to be complicit in assisting criminals.
Saunders reaction tends to invite more scrutiny surrounding the information provided by the police., and heightens concerns about Saunders’ own behavior.
Saunders disqualifies himself, and all those that might associate with him.
One has to wonder what is the reason for Saunders making this document public. It just further justifies in my view why Bodden Town West should be hunting for a new candidate … one can only hope.
Osborne Bodden is running for BTW.
Good luck Ozzie…rid us all of this dangerous divisive snake .
yeah, and he’s a fantastic option.
Ossie is BTE against John John
CNS: In 2021, Osbourne Bodden ran in BTE against Dwayne Seymour. In 2025, he is running in BTW against Chris Saunders. See here.
Governor actually tries to do his job and point out what complete scumbags our politicians are, so gets called a racist.
Hence, we now have a Governor who does nothing other than attend events XXX. And the politicians continue destroying the country.
Let’s not forget that that Roper did nothing when the PPM were in power shoving the cruise port down our throats. Also, when PPM clearly was being controlled by the development cabal. XXXX Not agreeing with Saunders, but people here are placing Roper on too high of a pedestal. What did he do about the Doctor’s Express coverup, which ended in the CMO deliberately lying in court and committing perjury? Something any of us “Normals” would pay a hefty price for.
I’m starting to feel a bit of sympathy for Wayne, although it was all his doing, and it looks like he hasn’t really learned his lesson yet. I’m sure he must have kept repeating this line from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to himself “Morons, I’ve got morons on my team”.
Why would Saunders be so stupid as to publish the email that quite clearly contradicts everything that he said in his response to it? Moron!
Just another clown in the circus.
Martyn Roper, the Cayman Islands governor at the time, accused members of the government of being involved in serious organised crime, Chris Saunders told parliament last week.
I would not be surprised if Saunders and others were involved in crime, but I would find it very difficult to attribute the words “serious” or “organized” to any of their actions.
And now, the Jamaican gangs have taken over the illegal numbers racket in Cayman.
Roper was right! Go back and listen to the parliament proceedings surrounding the bill to get tough on this CRIME!!! The poor and pathetic excuses for not supporting it is very revealing… to intelligent people anyway.
Chris Saunders behaves like an anti-white rascist politician.
Saunders along with a few other ones want Cayman to be their little Kingston. Just look around.
Eastern Avenue family of people whose activities in business, police work and constitution have ended in disaster.
Couple of them lucky not to be in jail..
We have convicts currently in government, so let’s face it, Chris, Roper was hardly suggesting anything too far from the truth.
Pulling the racism card? idiotic response.
Election time
The National Lottery in the UK is respectable, well-run, successful and has raised huge amounts to support sport and educational projects.
Setting something similar up here would have the happy effect of seriously damaging the illegal numbers cartels and associated criminality.
However the church lobby and older religious voters object to gambling in all forms on principle.
So the MPs do their math and don’t want to lose their woters.
There is already evidence of corrupt back door dealings with developers. It would not surprise me if there were similar “turn a blind eye/block national lottery bill” deals with those involved in the illegal numbers businesses.
The former Governor is being shamefully maligned when he is not here to defend himself. It looks thuggish. It looks bad.
Thank you for covering this story.
The UK lottery has several million potential clients. Do you know of any town of <100K persons that run their own lottery? Has anyone figured out the cost to conduct such an operation?
It’s not the cost. It’s the glaringly obvious fact that wherever we’ve allowed the creation of a junkdrawer fund, politicians race to spend it. It doesn’t matter how they say it will or should be spent. It will become yet another “jolly fund”.
That said, I am in favour of a national lottery. If it happens, I want profound oversight over how the funds are spent, and I want them used to ramp up our educational system to perhaps just make it competitive. Yes, the [damn] dump is important, and certainly proper public transportation is vitally necessary, however, I also believe both of these should be primary capital projects. I think we should mandate them as a priority. However, first, we must have a PIR to establish the terms of PIRs, and then we can have genuine influence in government.
It’s a long, but important, yet not impossible, road. We can walk it together. (too corny?)
Use the lottery to fund a well-controlled sovereign wealth fund for our coming rainy day, after our idiot political class ruins the financial service industry
Apparently, the private sector criminals can run it profitably. Why can’t the public sector criminals do the same.
If there’s “evidence”, which I don’t believe, why not report it?
“Man offended by statement of the obvious”.
We need our own DOGE to come and clean up the the fraud and abuse within our government.
Some are categorically involved
lol Chris Saunders telling people to go home is quite ironic.
I think his exact words were “go ome, hinglishman”.
I don’t think so. I think he’s a JINO (Jamaican in name only). He doesn’t really walk the walk. Good luck finding him standing for something that benefits all the people.
JINO or not….He certainly behaves and shows all the traits of the lowest form of Jamaican politician…
I asked a Jamaican friend of mine, who resides in Jamaica, what his thoughts were about Chris Saunders.
My friend responded: “That man can’t figure out whether he wants to be Jamaican or Caymanian. Cayman can have him. We don’t want him.”
well he here but we don’t want him, but what to do besides blame Mac .Hope the people are sensible enough to not vote him in ever again. Whoever votes for him will have to live their lives being a fool.