Mon Ethos Pro Support — the company that contracted with the VIPD for cybersecurity services in a deal that is now the apparent focus of an FBI probe — is holding VIPD equipment “hostage” and threatening to delete sensitive data unless it is paid $479,795 it claims it is due, according to a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunction the government filed on Friday in V.I. Superior Court.
Among the equipment the company is allegedly refusing to return to the VIPD is a GrayKey — an item that lets police hack into mobile devices and retrieve encrypted information.
According to the verified complaint alleging a breach of contract and accompanying memorandum of law, Mon Ethos demanded payment of $479,795 on June 15 “and threatened that data would be ‘lost’ if payment was not immediately remitted.” It was around the same time that the FBI announced that Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and Office of Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal were the targets of a federal investigation regarding the government’s contract with Mon Ethos. Within days, both officials had resigned.
The government, which claims in its complaint that Mon Ethos has been paid $1.6 million under a one-year contract with the VIPD that is due to expire on Sept. 30, told the company in a letter dated July 10 that it was processing the payment but that the police department needed the immediate return of equipment loaned to the company as part of its contract.
Not only has Mon Ethos refused to return the property, “they have threatened to actively delete the data from the bailed property — evidence in multiple pending criminal cases and investigations including murder and other felony matters,” according to the memorandum, which uses the legal term “bailed” to refer to the loan of equipment.
According to the complaint, the property includes iPads, Facebook portals, iPhones, Max West Nitro tablets, Qlink Wireless tablets, laptops, Motorola cellphones, Android Moto G phones with cases, and the GrayKey that is used to extract encrypted data from mobile devices.
“Mon Ethos’ actions, holding hostage items that were entrusted to it as bailee, despite VIPD’s demands, and its threats to destroy items of evidentiary value in serious criminal cases will irreparably harm the Government. Turning over the property will not harm Mon Ethos and is in the public interest,” the complaint states.
A ‘Humanly Impossible’ Timeframe?
In correspondence between Mon Ethos and Acting Police Commissioner Mario Brooks in July regarding the outstanding payment, the company said it provided housing for VIPD employees since October without compensation and supplied the resources to ensure community safety during major events such as St. Thomas Carnival and Festival on St. Croix.
Matters came to a head on Wednesday when the VIPD demanded the return of all equipment by 5 p.m. on Thursday, notwithstanding any invoices alleged to be outstanding, which the department said it was reviewing to determine “what, if any, amounts are due.”
“Receiving a letter demanding an impossible 24-hour turnaround time and suggesting a reconsideration of payments already approved by VIPD executives is both inappropriate and highly concerning,” Mon Ethos replied. “Such actions are not only a travesty but also maliciously undermine our contributions and commitment to supporting VIPD.”
Mon Ethos stated that the timeframe was “humanly impossible” because “the very basic setup to begin the work would require specific server specifications and multiple 20-terabyte drives delivered immediately. Additionally, we would need an infrastructure that we have not been made aware of that VIPD even possesses.”
The company said it had contacted the Attorney General’s Office to communicate its concerns. “Additionally, the language in your email is beginning to feel like extortion,” it wrote.
However, Mon Ethos remained committed to supporting the VIPD, it said. “Within 48 hours of payment in full to MEPSVI, we will prepare a transition team, led by myself, and we will ensure that your data and evidence are properly transferred and handed over to VIPD. MEPSVI will only act responsibly in these matters unless otherwise provided with a complete hold harmless agreement,” Whitaker wrote.
As for the GrayKey device, Mon Ethos said it would be returned to VIPD only with the assurance “that VIPD is accepting all responsibility and liability for the device and any damage its removal would have on the phones it has been connected to.”
The dire situation described in Friday’s court filings — in one text message, Mon Ethos said SOS emergency buttons given to executives, witnesses/informants and victims “would start shutting down for non-payment soon,” meaning they would not be able to alert the VIPD if in distress — is markedly different than assurances given during a press conference on June 17 when the resignations of Martinez and O’Neal were announced in relation to the FBI investigation.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said at that time that Mon Ethos — whose work, among other things, included the sweep last year on a range of government agencies that had reportedly been “bugged” — had limited access to government cyber data and security but did supply the cameras that had led to the speedy arrest of the man accused of killing a Public Works employee at the tail-end of 2023 St. Thomas Carnival festivities.
A Long and Checkered History
Mon Ethos is owned by David Whitaker, who in 2008 was nabbed in Mexico and returned to the United States to face a multicount fraud complaint of bilking customers out of more than $10 million by selling, but never delivering, electronic equipment. While on the lam south of the border, he allegedly made millions of dollars by selling black-market steroids and human growth hormones online. Facing 65 years behind bars on the fraud charges, Whitaker became an FBI operative in a sting that eventually saw Google fined $500 million for its role in facilitating online illegal drug sales. Whitaker subsequently got five years on the fraud charges.
Whitaker also faces numerous lawsuits brought by people in the USVI — for failing to pay rent, legal fees, salaries, and promised returns for investing in Mon Ethos, among other complaints — and the mainland U.S. In many cases, Whitaker responds to lawsuits with countersuits that can tie up the litigation for years.
According to an expose of his escapades by Wired magazine in May 2013 that called him a “career conman,” Whitaker has been in and out of jail since he was first arrested for bank fraud and e-racketeering in 1997 when he was 22.
“Every time he left prison, Whitaker would go right back to his usual patterns, which were only enabled by the chaotic spread of ecommerce. He could create a company almost as quickly as he could think of it, and he never had to meet customers face-to-face. He started printing businesses, telecommunications companies, auto resellers,” the magazine wrote.
How he ended up with a VIPD contract for cybersecurity is unclear, and the government was not forthcoming with answers on Monday. Public spending records reveal that the V.I. government has paid $3.31 million to Mon Ethos since August 2022, including $1.7 million from the Office of Management and Budget and $1.5 million from the V.I. Police Department.
Whitaker also claims to be president and CTO of a company called Office of Data Discovery Forensic Analysis, or ODDFA, and to own the website, USVI News.
The extent of his reach into the V.I. government — how many other agencies Mon Ethos has access to, and a list of its no-bid contracts — is unclear. The Source has repeatedly sought comment from Property and Procurement on these and other questions, including whether the territory’s procurement laws need to be changed, but to no avail.
On Monday, Government House was no more forthcoming.
“We don’t comment on any matters that are being adjudicated or any lawsuits; anything before the courts,” said Government House Director of Communications Richard Motta, who referred the Source to the V.I. Justice Department when asked about the situation at the weekly Government House press briefing, and a similar statement was made by Police Department spokesman Glenn Dratte. Motta referred Source inquiries to the V.I Attorney General’s Office, which had not responded by press time to a set of emailed questions or a request for an interview.
However, Motta said previously that having a criminal record does not automatically preclude an individual from obtaining a business license or contracting with the Virgin Islands government.
The court had not ruled on the government’s motion as of Monday afternoon. Judge Carol Thomas-Jacobs is assigned to the case.
