The con artist at the center of an alleged orgy of government corruption involving former Virgin Islands officials was a federal informant who recorded months of phone calls and meetings where their schemes were laid out in stunning detail.
According to a source with extensive knowledge of the investigation, David Anthony Whitaker, a cybersecurity consultant with a shady past, was wired for sound during conversations with ex-Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) Commissioner Ray Martinez and then-Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Jenifer O’Neal.
What Whitaker’s federal handlers uncovered may have been shocking to even the most seasoned white-collar crime investigators.
The arrests of Martinez, O’Neal and Calvert White, former director at the Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation, received blanket coverage in the local press. Yellow Cedar Media, however, stepped back for a moment to highlight some of the most outlandish dialogue caught on tape by the federal cooperator.
United States of America v. Ray Martinez and Jenifer O’Neal
The January 8th Grand Jury indictment of Martinez and O’Neal, filed in U.S. District Court in St. Thomas, charges the pair with five counts of Honest Services Wire Fraud, two counts of Bribery Concerning Federal Program Funds, a single count of Money Laundering Conspiracy and two counts Obstruction of Justice. All told, they each face up to 100 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines in the event they are convicted of all charges against them.
In exchange for money and other favors, prosecutors say Martinez and O’Neal guaranteed expedited payment on millions of dollars in no-bid contracts handed to Whitaker’s cyber consulting company, Mon Ethos Pro Support. Whitaker sought a $5 million agreement to provide tech and investigative support to the VIPD, and for other services to the OMB. Records show Mon Ethos Pro received at least $3.1 million in payments from the VI government – money partially drawn a pot of federal funds intended to boost Virgin Islands economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The indictment says O’Neal is on the hook for seeking a $17,730 bribe from Whitaker to cover the lease on her specialty coffee shop in Yacht Haven Grande on St. Thomas. And for his part, Martinez is accused of taking $110,359 in bribes to, among other things, pay for high-end equipment at his planned restaurant. In his own words, Martinez suggested Whitaker pay his family’s moving expenses and pick up his kids’ tuition at the exclusive Antilles School. “… I need uh forty-one hundred ($4,100) sent to Diana (Martinez’ police lieutenant wife) for the, umm, somehow gotten to us for the kids’ tuition,” Martinez told Whitaker during a call recorded in January 2024.
In a separate 15-page indictment, White and alleged bagman Benjamin Hendricks are charged with Honest Services Wire Fraud and Federal Program Bribery. Prosecutors allege White solicited a $16,000 bribe and received $5,000 in cash, funneled through White’s sidekick, Hendricks. Back in 2022, Hendricks tapped into the government piggybank for an $88,000 contract for his own business, A Clean Environment, for mold and mildew remediation at Government House.
All four former officials and Hendricks entered pleas of not guilty at initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Teague earlier this month. In his defense, Martinez filed his own Superior Court lawsuit against Whitaker claiming that he, Martinez, was actually the victim of sinister plot hatched by federal investigators to “entrap” him into Whitaker’s web of corruption. The suit says innocent conversations about business deals and personal loans were mistakenly construed as corrupt acts.
Whitaker, meanwhile, has admitted to federal charges of wire fraud and bribery in a plea deal with prosecutors. He is expected to be sentenced in April – mostly likely with some leniency for playing the role of snitch.
Wired for Sound
It’s a rare event when government officials and their cohorts are recorded on phone calls, written messages and in personal meetings discussing how to conceal what prosecutors say was a deeply illegal scheme to line their pockets with taxpayer money. But the calls and meetings were, indeed, recorded by Whitaker, at direction of federal investigators.
In dozens of recorded conversations and text messages in 2023 and 2024 Martinez and O’Neal spelled out a brazen cash grab. The Martinez-O’Neal-Whitaker cabal were recorded discussing inflating invoices submitted by Mon Ethos to conceal bribe payments. Whitaker and Martinez went a step further and crafted a phony memorandum about producing a show called “Steak Out.” The premise of the show: Martinez cooking at his restaurant while reminiscing about closed cases that the ex-cop worked on in the past.
Phone recordings from 2023 show how Whitaker picked up the tab for first-class travel and luxury hotel stays when Martinez traveled to Boston for medical care. Whitaker even help coordinate that medical care, according to the indictment. On November 1st that year, Whitaker texted hotel confirmation details to Martinez, to which Martinez boldly replied, “Not concerned with room confirmation. More concerned with Butler Service Confirmation.”
The Problem with Cash
6200 Frydenhoj is a non-descript, three story industrial building in Red Hook Quarter on the East End of St. Thomas. A handful of retail businesses – a flower shop, surveyor business, storefront church – occupy the ground level.
A set of metal stairs on the east side of the building lead to an unmarked metal door with redundant locks. Video surveillance cameras keep a watchful eye on who goes in and out of the second-floor entrance. Inside, a large conference table dominates the room, but you cannot miss the sound-proof wall coverings, the computers and bank of video monitors that line the walls. This was Mon Ethos’s nerve center.
On April 6, 2024, O’Neal and Martinez met Whitaker at the 6200 Frydenhoj office, according to the charging documents. Based on a recording of that meeting, small talk among the three quickly turned to how they would conceal a $17,730 illicit payment to O’Neal to cover rent for her new coffee shop located in the tony Yacht Haven Grande.
O’Neal: I got to figure out how that … because you know I don’t like traces of anything so. Wired (electronic bank transfer) means it’s traced.
Whitaker: So how’s the easiest way to do this that is not traceable. [Laughter] Ray, you’re the expert on this.
Martinez: Everything is traceable.
O’Neal: Everything is traceable … Except cash. Cash is not traceable.
Martinez: Yeah, the problem with that is depositing the cash. These banks around here, every time you go to deposit five grand, it’s like – where’d you get that from?
Java Grande Coffee and Craft Cocktails
The Yacht Charter Fleet publication considers Yacht Haven Grande – located alongside the scenic Charlotte Amalie Harbor in St. Thomas –one of the Caribbean’s leading superyacht marinas. The marina has 48 slips for super-sized yachts measuring up to 650 feet, as well as hosting high-end services for crew, high-net-worth owners and guests.
“One of the highlights of Yacht Haven Grande is its outdoor shopping galleria, which encompasses over 40 shops, including restaurants and bars along its stunning promenade,” wrote Yacht Charter Fleet in its list of “10 of the World’s Top Super Yacht Marinas.”
Along the Yacht Haven promenade, a few steps a fleet of multimillion dollar yachts, sits O’Neal’s Java Grande Coffee and Craft Cocktails, where the “yachties” could sip their custom Java Espresso Martinis or the traditional Moscow Mules and Whiskey Sours.
On paper, O’Neal had the spot locked in the location – but she needed Whitaker’s money for rent to actually open for business. According to the indictment, O’Neal needed a “gift.”
“On January 11, 2024, Martinez called Whitaker and asked if there was a way to add money to the January payment (VIPD’s payment to Mon Ethos) to give O’Neal a ‘gift’ of ‘maybe ten or fifteen thousand bucks. Whitaker mentioned that he didn’t want to make O’Neal ‘feel funny about it’ and Martinez suggested that that was why he wanted to money to come from Martinez. Martinez specifically asked if the money could be provided in cast,” the indictment read.
Whitaker called O’Neal immediately after talking to Martinez. Here’s what was said:
Whitaker: Ray said he was gonna – Ray said he told you he was gonna give you ten. He’s asking 15 from me. See I – I told you he’s gonna take some of it [laughs]
O’Neal: He did tell me ten.
Whitaker: Yeah, I know right. [laughs] What’s he doing, taking a commission?
O’Neal: I guess so
O’Neal: Yeah … he’s uh, he’s you know … but you know, for me whatever it is, I am – I am grateful.
Don Felito’s Cookshop
Less than a mile away from Java Grande, down at the bottom of Raphune Hill, is Don Felito’s Cookshop. The Cookshop is Martinez’ strategically located (but not-yet-opened) barbeque place. It’s at the heart of the medical corridor on St. Thomas, an easy walk for the lunch crowd from the Roy Schneider hospital across the street and Foothills doctor offices.
In early 2024, Martinez was also short cash to get Don Felito’s open. On a New Year’s Day phone call, Martinez complained that he needed money to buy equipment for Don Felito’s. A after that, Martinez and Whitaker conspired to fatten a Mon Ethos’ invoice by $70,000. The money was, say prosecutors, used to buy kitchen equipment for Don Felito’s. Whitaker agreed, offering Martinez $5,000 until the doctored invoice was paid.
Martinez: … What I was going to tell you is, um, I know we had spoken about increasing the … the December invoice so that …
Whitaker: Okay
Martinez: … We could order equipment, um, are you still open to that? Cause I really need to get this shit going, man
Whitaker: I can do that
Martinez: … yeah let’s go ahead and increase it and , us, so we can get that stuff done. And I’ll put both of them (invoices) through tomorrow.
The Steak Out
According to the indictment, Martinez and Whitaker were trying to cover their tracks when they cooked up the idea of a fake video show where Martinez would get behind the grill at Don Felito’s and cook talk about memorable police cases he worked on in past years. Whitaker drafted a memorandum explaining the show, and it was signed by Martinez. In reality the show was never intended to air. Instead, the phony memo “… was created with the intent to conceal that nature of Whitaker’s illegal payments to Martinez,” prosecutors say.
A Hasty Retreat: Leaving Bovoni
In Martinez’ January 8th lawsuit against Whitaker, Martinez alleges Whitaker “misrepresented” their business and personal relationships regarding, among other things, housing costs.
The suit states that in August 2023, then-Commissioner Martinez was living in the Bovoni area of St. Thomas. It’s a peculiar neighborhood for a top cop, largely because parts of Bovoni was known for its gang activity, dope dealing and gun crime.
Martinez, in his position as Police Commissioner, began to receive threats from individuals hanging out in the community. Martinez expressed to Whitaker that he did not feel safe where he was living…” according to the Martinez suit. Martinez claims that Whitaker took it upon himself to find a rental property for the Martinez family, and to loan Martinez money for the initial rent and security deposit at a safer location. “
The feds had a different take on the payments. “Whitaker was providing Martinez … things of value, including wire payments for Martinez’ rent …” the indictment against Martinez charges.
Calvert White and The Bag Man
The United States of America v. Calvert White and Benjamin Hendricks charging documents allege that White solicited a bribe from Whitaker in return for helping Whitaker’s Mon Ethos obtain a $1.4 million contract with Sports, Parks and Recreation (SP&R). White allegedly provided confidential bid information to Whitaker and took official action to encourage the awarding of the contract to Whitaker. Hendricks allegedly served as a middleman for payments to White, and facilitated the bribery scheme.
After a December 2023 phone call between White and Whitaker, Hendricks approached Whitaker on St. Croix, where Whitaker was working that day. According to White Hendricks indictment, Hendricks told Whitaker needed to pay White $16,000 to ensure the Mon Ethos bid would win the SP&R contract.
Following the Hendricks-Whitaker encounter, White sent a WhatsApp message to Whitaker. “Did you talk to Benji about that situation?” he asked. Whitaker answered yes. “All good,” White replied.
In a phone conversation recorded later that day Whitaker asked Hendricks “ … I wanted to make sure I heard you right. He only wants one percent, 16,000?” The sixteen grand is roughly one percent of the $1.4 million contract amount.
White and Hendricks are each charged with one count of honest services wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; and one count of federal program bribery, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Next Step
Prosecutors this week filed District court documents asking a federal judge to certify the case Martinez, O’Neal, White and Hendricks as “complex,” thus unable to be tried under speedy trial deadlines. The case involves more than one million documents and recordings. No trial dates have been set.
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