CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Attorney General Denise George today denounced the V.I. Consortium’s online portal for falsely reporting that the owner and proprietor of ABC Concepts, Inc. is her brother.
The article detailed claims of the company’s alleged involvement in a kickback scheme with a former WAPA official and of receiving over $1.1 million in inflated WAPA contracts while failing to perform the work, in a matter that was recently referred to the Attorney General for investigation.
“The V.I. Consortium reporter did so without even having the decency to reach out to me and ask if it were true before reporting this falsehood. I first became aware of the allegations and letter pertaining to ABC Concepts, Inc. referred to in this article late evening yesterday. Allegations contained in the letter state that an audit related to this matter was referred to the V.I. Attorney General’s office in 2014 of which I have no knowledge,” said AG George.
“Ernice Gilbert of the V.I. Consortium reported, “V.I. Attorney General and head of the Department of Justice, Denise George, is a sister of Cleve George of ABC Concepts. The internal audit was turned over to the Department of Justice in 2019, but there has been no word on the case.” The truth is, “Cleve
George of ABC Concepts” is not my brother. While I do have a brother of the same first and last name, my brother was not associated in any way with ABC Concepts, Inc., nor was he awarded any WAPA contracts for fuel tank conversion and cleaning services. Gilbert’s statement associating me personally with the owner of ABC Concepts is false, irresponsible, and especially defamatory to my brother who is not even a public figure and has absolutely nothing to do with this matter. I am appalled by the shoddy journalism of the V.I. Consortium and outraged that
Gilbert would print such information without taking the time to verify its accuracy. He could have easily verified this information by simply asking the question, which he failed to do even in the email that he sent to my media manager Wednesday evening before he printed the story. His flagrant disregard for the truth is a serious disservice to his readers and members of the public who rely upon the information he reports. Responsible journalists do their due diligence and research details to ascertain the truth before hastily running defamatory and sensational stories. The V.I. Consortium has apparently taken its yellow journalism to an all-time low. I can only hope that Gilbert would do some soul searching and muster up some degree of journalistic professionalism and integrity in the process.”