Special to the Observer While one of the world’s top oncology specialists is languishing in a Panamanian prison awaiting extradition to Canada to face charges of masterminding a multi-million dollar kickback scheme in the construction of a $1.3 billion super-hospital, Federation authorities are trying to seize his assets in St. Kitts and Nevis. Dr. Arthur T. Porter, an African physician who set up cancer clinics throughout the Caribbean, is fighting the extradition process. His attorney, Ricardo Bilonick, is a powerhouse of a lawyer who had close ties to Panama’s Manuel Noriega. Dr. Porter’s cellmates at the largest penitentiary in Panama include Colombian drug kingpins, cocaine traffickers, and other major felons. At stake in St. Kitts and Nevis are at least two properties owned by the high-living medical expert — a villa at Half Moon Bay in Frigate Bay, and four acres of prime land on Fig Tree Lane, Nevis. The Federation’s director of Public Prosecution is attempting to seize Porter’s assets here on the behalf of the Government of Canada under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty .The DPP is seeking to do so by filing an order of restraint with the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the High Court of Justice as the bi-lateral treaty requires. Plaintiffs listed in the court papers filed July 2, 2014 include the Registrar of Titles, Frigate Bay Development Corp., St. Kitts Electricity Co. Ltd., Nevis Electricity Co. Ltd., St. Kitts-Nevis Island Revenue Department and B. Kassab and Associates. A native of Freetown, Sierra Leona, Dr. Porter was educated in Sierra Leon, Kenya, East Africa, Canada and the United States where he holds degrees in management and other doctorates from Harvard University, the University of Toronto and the University of Tennessee. Since his arrest by INTERPOL and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Panama — law enforcement officers also seized his diplomatic passport — the international physician has monitored a furious counter-attack against the Republic of Panama. Claiming human rights violations, Porter argues that his passport was confiscated illegally. He also says he is suffering from late-stage cancer and must self-administer twice daily chemotherapy treatments while undergoing nausea, vomiting, bleeding and infections. He has filed a $150 million lawsuit against the Republic of Panama, claiming damages. Porter was raveling on his diplomatic passport issued by St.Kitts and Nevis when INTERPOL arrested him on May 26, 2013. Arresting officers said he was stunned when they ignored the passport and suggested that it was either a fake or obtained by fraud. The suspect’s impressive medical background includes the following: . Former director of Canada’s Spy Network, the Security Intelligence Review Committee. He was appointed to the position on Sept. 3, 2008 by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but resigned as chairman in December 2011, three weeks before his contract expired after a Canadian newspaper exposed his business dealings with Ari Ben-Menashe, a Montreal merchant. Ben-Menashe reportedly was arrested in the United States after allegedly trying to sell military transport planes to Iran. . Founder of a number of cancer centers in Nassau, Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands and other locations. Porter was reportedly was planning to build a medical facility in Frigate Bay at the time of his arrest. . Former CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, one of America’s largest urban health care systems. . Former member of the U.S. Presidential Commission where he was responsible for reviewing the health care provided by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration. He was named to that prestigious position in 2001. Porter was in the process of being appointed to the post of Consul General to the Bahamas for St.Kitts and Nevis when he was arrested. Dr. Denzil Douglas said that while his government approved the recommendation after the physician went through the normal processing, the Bahamanian government had not yet granted its approval. According to published accounts, Porter holds citizenships in Sierra Leone, the Bahamas, St.Kitts and Nevis ,Canada and the United States. At the time of his arrest, the physician claimed he was in transit on a humanitarian tour of cancer clinics he had established in the Caribbean. Authorities apprehended him on an international warrant issued out of Montreal, Canada. The warrant stems from charges of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, fraud against the government, breach of trust, laundering proceeds of crime, and participating in a secret commission with respect to nearly $23 million in alleged kickbacks that SNC-Lavalin, a Montreal engineering firm, allegedly paid him in connection with the planned building of the 41.3 billion MUHC Super-Hospital. Porter and his wife, Pamela, have four children. While in prison with the assistance of biographer T.R. Todd, he has written his memoirs, ‘The Man Behind The Bow Tie: Arthur Porter on Business, Politics and Intrigue.’ The book will be released Sept. 15, 2014 and has reportedly been optioned by a Montreal Film Producer to be made into a movie.
