Who is the bad guy? They are not always easy to recognize.
A company offering a number of services including security, cyber security, and digital marketing, has been revealed to be the source of over a dozen eavesdropping devices planted in government offices in the US Virgin Islands.
The company, Mon Ethos, according to their website, offers a multitude of services. These include cybersecurity, digital forensics, IT consulting, physical security, and more. Their website also claims the USVI Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a client.
But it turns out recently unsealed documents have revealed that they were also responsible for the planting of over a dozen eavesdropping device in the OMB and a number of other government agencies.
US Virgin Islands government office was the victim of covert surveillance devices.
The discovery of the devices was first reported in August, 2022, in the Virgin Islands Consortium.
Local and federal law enforcement authorities are investigating the placement of hidden eavesdropping devices at various locations inside the Office of Management and Budget building in St. Thomas, the Consortium has learned.
According to people with intimate knowledge of the unfolding event, the V.I. Police Department and federal agents entered the OMB office, located in the area of Post Office Square in St. Thomas, on Friday morning and were examining the entire office as of Friday afternoon. Police Commissioner Ray Martinez has since corroborated the information during an interview with the Consortium.
As a result of the probe, three employees at OMB employed in the department’s Information Technology (IT) office were placed on administrative leave, Police Commissioner Ray Martinez said. He said those employees were placed on leave with pay at the V.I.P.D.’s request so law enforcement could have full access to the systems at OMB while the investigation is ongoing.
“For the access that we need, we need 100 percent unadulterated access to the system. We’re not saying that they did anything, but we don’t need anybody with administrator access going into the system for the next couple of days until we do what we have to do,” the commissioner said.
To date over a dozen devices were found in more than five agencies. The commissioner could not say whether the eavesdropping was politically motivated. “Sometime down the line as the investigation progresses, I will divulge what government agencies they were found in, but for now in order to protect the investigation, I cannot divulge that,” he said.
Now in September, 2024, unsealed documents have revealed that it was the company Mon Ethos who actually planted the devices, and then billed over $130,000 for finding them. This also lead to the discovery that over $66,000 in bribes had been paid to a VI Police official in exchange for lucrative contracts and invoice approvals.
Federal investigation uncovers Mon Ethos’s role in planting surveillance devices across government offices, leading to over $66K in bribes paid to VIPD official in exchange for lucrative contracts and invoice approvals
The eavesdropping matter, which the Consortium first reported on in August 2022, brought together local and federal authorities for an investigation, Mr. Martinez said at the time. He condemned the incident and said law enforcement would utilize all their resources to bring the perpetrators to justice. “The individuals who placed these devices for nefarious reasons underestimated local law enforcement’s ability to discover them,” he said at the time. “We will not idly stand by and allow these individuals to trample our civil rights and intentionally interfere with the effective and orderly operation of our government. They underestimated our dedication and access to advanced digital forensic capabilities. Make no mistake we have only just scratched the surface of this investigation.”
As it happens, the devices were planted by Mon Ethos, whose founder David Whitaker has since pleaded guilty to wire fraud and bribery.
Mon Ethos website also lists the Office of Management and Budget as their client.
During the June 17 press conference, Governor Bryan said the relationship with Mon Ethos started after the eavesdropping devices were discovered. “That’s how this relationship with them started,” he said, a fact that was confirmed by the unsealed federal document on Thursday. “This engagement led to the discovery of a miniature spy camera in the office of the Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Personnel,” the document reads. A subsequent investigation resulted in the discovery of 13 more surveillance devices hidden in various government offices. Mr. Whitaker then proceeded to bill the VIPD a total of $130,195 for the “work” done in finding these devices. It appears that it was at this point that the nefarious dealings with the VIPD official began.
Prosecutors detailed, with names redacted from the public version of the document, the bribes paid to the VIPD ‘agent’ in exchange for priority payment of outstanding invoices and additional contracts awarded to Mr. Whitaker. “Specifically, at the outset of the scheme, Defendant discussed and agreed with [redacted] that if Defendant paid [redacted] and provided financial assistance to a restaurant owned by [redacted], [redacted] would use his position as the [redacted] to make sure that Defendant’s outstanding invoices would be paid by approving and signing the final invoices and instructing others to sign off on the final invoices,” the document reads. In total, the unnamed VIPD official received over $66,000 worth of bribes, which included restaurant supplies and equipment, trips from St. Thomas to Boston for the unnamed individual and other people, and cash payments to the official and his family. “The expenses associated with the Boston trips included, but were not limited to, staying at the Encore Hotel, personal butler service throughout the stay, and tickets to local sporting events,” the document says.