Three Brazilian nationals were arrested Thursday after they were apprehended on board the cruise ship Enchantment of the Seas with fraudulent credit cards.
The trio also had magnetic striping machines, blank cards and credit card encoding devices, WVWI reported.
Attorney Douglas Sprotte, director of the V.I. Justice Department's white collar crime division, told Radio One news that it is too early in the investigation to know whether the suspects are linked to the reports last month of 2 million bogus credit cards being circulated in South America.
The arrests were made by members of the white collar crime division, Customs and immigration officers and Secret Service agents in cooperation with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line security.
Sprotte said the suspects had made purchases of several "big ticket items" here in St. Thomas, on the ship and in other Caribbean ports.
Sprotte said he expects an advice-of-rights hearing for the three Friday morning in federal court.

"First Impressions: Fritz Henle's Virgin Islands 1948-1950" is being shown on St. Thomas for the first time.
The show, which includes 37 black and white photographs taken during the artist's first visits to the islands in the late 1940s, is open to the public beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday evenings at Jimmy's Studio on Government Hill.
Most of the photographs, which depict life in the Virgin Islands before the onslaught of major tourism, have never been seen before. Included are images of horsecarts and trading schooners plus the architecture of the islands.
Also included are photos of the faces of the Virgin Islands — young and old, captured in Henle style with all their character and dignity showing.
The show will hang throughout January and will be open on Friday nights during Jimmy's "Wine Down" open house from 5 to 9 p.m. Complimentary wine and tapas will be served.
"First Impressions: Fritz Henle's Virgin Islands 1948-1950" is sponsored
by the V.I. Telephone Corp. and a grant from the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts.

Gov. Charles W. Turnbull and Senate President Vargrave A. Richards can influence the direction of the Public Services Commission with their appointments of four new members to fill vacancies and an expired term.
The PSC, which was strongly criticized last year for rejecting an investigation into a telephone-rate reduction, is a nine-member commission consisting of seven voting members plus two senators who serve ex-officio without votes.
The PSC regulates public utilities, including the V.I. Telephone Corp., the Water and Power Authority and ferry rates.
The two senators who served during the 22nd Legislature — Holland Redfield II of St. Croix and Stephen "Smokey" Frett of St. Thomas-St. John — are not members of the 23rd Legislature and thus must be replaced.
Additionally, attorney Desmond Maynard's term expired in July and one seat remains vacant. Turnbull has the power to make appointments for those two seats.
Thus, four new members could be named almost immediately to the board. While that would not constitute a majority on the PSC, one of the remaining five — educator Luther Felix Renee of St. Croix — voted last year for the rejected investigation into Vitelco's rates and might do so again if the issue comes up, as it may.
Neither Turnbull nor Richards has given any indication when they will make appointments to the PSC.
Editor's note: For a complete list of the PSC board, see "Boards and Commissions" on the Data page in the Community section.

Developer Leo R. Sibilly wants to rezone three parcels in Estate Elizabeth — including the Sibilly ballpark and Sib's Mountain Bar — for a professional/business center to serve the North Side community.
In a letter to area homeowners, Sibilly said he is asking that Parcels No. 33, 34 and 44A Estate Elizabeth be rezoned from Residential-Low Density to Business-3.
"The proposed development does not intend to compete with restaurants and convenient groceries in the area," Sibilly wrote. "Instead, our proposal is to establish a small countryside business park with possible services such as doctors, general dentistry, pharmacy, secretarial/notary services, travel agency and sport fishing supplies store."
"Considerable market research" will be done to make sure community needs are met, he added.
Sibilly's letter noted that for 48 years, the Sibilly family has permitted "virtually unrestricted use" of the ballfield for community activities and as a playground for nearby Joseph Sibilly School.
But as St. Thomas has continued to develop, that area has become a "choice residential area preferred both by new homeowners and renters," and those people now need "selected professional services," he said.
Sibilly described himself as the "prime sponsor" of this project, and offered to meet with any homeowners who have questions about his plans.

Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg has asked Senate President Vargrave A. Richards to convene a Committee of the Whole meeting to hear testimony about the Public Services Commission and telephone rates.
"This certainly isn't over," Donastorg said. "In fact, this investigation is just beginning — there is still so much we don't know." The Committee of the Whole meeting was mandated last fall by the 22nd Legislature but was postponed because of the November elections. Donastorg asked Richards to convene the meeting as soon as possible.
Donastorg said his concerns about the PSC go beyond its handling of the V.I. Telephone Corp. rate issue.
"As you know, the PSC's response to the Legislature's petition to reduce phone rates was illegal and immoral at worst and, at best, inappropriate and unorthodox," he said in his letter to Richards. "Many questions remain about Vitelco's finances and the PSC's ability to effectively regulate this, or any other, utility.
"A meeting of the Committee of the Whole will help us determine the facts and resolve many of the longstanding issues about corruption and collusion at the PSC." On June 6, 1997, the Legislature unanimously passed a resolution calling on the PSC to cut phone rates by 20 percent in light of the near-total tax breaks, worth about $35 million, that the Industrial Development Commission granted to Vitelco.
The PSC initially ignored the request but eventually hired a consultant to conduct a study. PSC members ultimately rejected the recommendations last fall of their own consultant, Jim Madan of Georgetown Consulting, and their legal counsel, Maria Tankenson Hodge, by voting to dismiss the Vitelco matter. This prompted senators to call for an in-depth examination of the PSC.
Donastorg asked Richards to request the presence of all PSC members as well as the PSC's independent consultants at the Committee of the Whole meeting. "I have also asked that the public be allowed to testify," Donastorg said.

A number of public officials apparently are violating a law passed by the 18th Legislature that requires them to make public their home phone numbers and addresses.
According to the Daily News, office and home phone numbers as well as home addresses were to be made available to the public at Government House on St. Thomas, at fire stations on St. Croix and St. John, and "in possession of on-duty officers 24 hours per day."
The law also says "such telephone numbers shall be published and made available to the general public."
Attorney General Julio Brady told the newspaper he was not aware of the law, but would comment after he had researched it.
Sen. Lorraine Berry, one sponsor of the legislation, said it was enacted to assure that officials were available to citizens after normal working hours and on weekends and holidays.
Berry's phone number is listed.

Perched on what — by all accounts — will be a challenging and exciting year, I find myself in a quandary as to what to do about my life here in the Virgin Islands.
I love these small islands nestled in what must have been and still is God's perception of the Garden of Eden, yet for the first time in my adult life, I have a yearning to seek distant shores, to test unfettered waters, to cross over from my comfort zone of living into the treacherous, sometimes shark-infested waters of the unknown.
At 45, one might wonder, why even bother? The truth is if we are to live fulfilling lives, we have to bother. There is no period in our life where self-discovery and revelation do not occur. Therefore, we must seek new boundaries for ourselves on a daily basis.
Now at the beginning of this year before great occurrences change our lives forever, I find that I spend time each day figuring out what needs to change within, what energies I must re-direct if I am to prosper and thrive in ‘99.
I found myself very impatient with the modus operandi in the Virgin Islands in ‘98. Frustration at overpriced items, long lines and ineffective leadership made me question everything that I believed in as a Virgin Islander. It also made me impatient for change and improvement in all areas of my life.
Because patience is no doubt one of life's greatest virtues, my internal critical mechanism worked overtime, trying to get me to take pleasure in the moment. This process, however, did reap some rewards. It made me realize that we should all have a commitment to improving our thinking.
Today, the days are filled with quiet anticipation, the kind that renews optimism but is grounded in that mature realism that comes from understanding that change and life are synonymous.
Truly, if we are to seek new boundaries for ourselves, we must question our motives for those changes; for in an attempt to alleviate our frustrations, we may make hasty decisions that will not afford us the positive growth and expansion for which we dreamed.
I will test and re-assess my boundaries this year, but not because I am frustrated, but because I am motivated to seek new ideas, embrace life-changing concepts and form productive, reciprocal alliances.

Just wanted to send you major kudos on this new initiative. It is simply fabulous! Congratulations!!!
I have already sent the address to all my stateside Virgin Island contacts, and they are super excited.
Keep on keeping on! All the best . . .
Pat O'Reilly

The discovery of your on-line edition of St. Thomas Source on onepaper.com has been like a long drink of spring water after a trek across the desert.
Certainly, the many of us who have been even temporarily separated from our homes on island have been hungry for an unbiased provider of local news, and the resurfacing of your merry band of professional reporters has restored our faith. You're all pioneers at the gate, and we look forward to your official launch.
I have, with others, been passing along the good word about your arrival on the net and will continue to do so (as an unofficial circulation intern).
Best wishes to all, and keep up the good work!

Bob Noble

The Caribbean. Palm trees swaying gently in the warm breeze, azure water lapping white sand beaches, a profusion of flowers in riotous colors. We are known the world over for our excellent rum, superb cigars and exotic fruits. Nevertheless, perhaps our most significant export is the wealth of talented musicians we have spawned over the last ninety years. Native sons who have conquered the musical world with their supreme, and often sublime, artistry.
Musicians must be in an environment that stimulates and challenges their growth as artists and they must have an infrastructure that supports them; the ability to study and train and the economic opportunities of performing and recording. The islands, being geographically isolated and, for the most part, economically deprived cannot offer these necessities, Consequently, the artist go where they must; England, Paris, New York, Florida, Boston. Once they’re gone there is a way in which we never get them back. Perhaps the saddest aspect of this phenomenon is that these very same musicians who have garnered world-wide recognition are often not known in the Caribbean. This is true for a variety of reasons. Art appreciation and survey classes have virtually disappeared from our schools, Caribbean history is not taught as a matter of course, and there is not broad-based accessibility to public radio or television. It is for these reasons that the Reichhold Center initiated a three day festival featuring Caribbean pianists. The festival is being held from January 15th-17th at the Reichhold Center for the Arts, St. Thomas; H. Lavity Stoutt, Tortola; and the Island Center for the Performing Arts, St. Croix. (See schedule below) The project is meant to highlight the musical riches that have evolved from the convergence of different cultures within the Caribbean basin. Three and one-half centuries of colonizing history (layered contributions from Africa, Europe, North and South America) make the Caribbean an ideal spot for studying the phenomenon of what is retained, what is discarded and what is fused when cultures intersect. The phenomenon of schismogenesis, the creative process and product of hybrid cultures, is well-represented by the chosen artists. The piano, as the ultimate symbol of Western musical tradition has been chosen as the instrument through which to explore this idea of cultural cross-fertilization.
Danilo Perez was born in Panama in 1966. He began his musical studies at the age of three when his father, a bandleader and singer, gave him a set of bongos. Five years later, he began studying the European classical repertoire at the National Conservatory in Panama. In 1985 he went to Berklee in Boston to study and it was there he discovered his love for jazz. “The first time I heard Bill Evans, I flipped. I never knew the piano could sound so beautiful.” Cultural traces and a variety of musical influences are the essence of Perez’s work. He was honored as “the most outstanding musician” by the Boston Jazz Society in 1989. His 1997 release, Panamonk won a Grammy award.
At fifteen, Mario Canonge was playing the organ at the Saint Theresa church in Martinique, the island of his birth. Now thirty-five and living in Paris, Mario has four solo albums to his credit. He was awarded the prize for best pianist at the “Festival de La Defense”, Paris in 1983. His music has always reflected the signature cultural hybridity of the Caribbean. His second album Trait d’Union, meaning both ‘hyphen’ and ‘that which unites’, mixes biguine, mazurka, ballad, salsa, calypso and compas. He has performed at festivals throughout France, Germany and the US. Omar Sosa has infused the musical consciousness of the local San Francisco Latin jazz scene with a new vitality since his arrival in 1995. Much of Sosa’s piano style stems from his development as a percussionist in his hometown of Camaguey, Cuba, where he studied music as a child before going on to learn percussion at the National Music School in Havana. The 32 year-old Sosa has been compared to Thelonious Monk and Randy Weston, who also investigated African and Caribbean rhythms. But he is not exclusively a jazz player. Like many of the young artists of the ‘90s, his vision is informed by the global genre-bending of contemporary music. John Santos is one of the foremost exponents of Afro-Latin music in the United States today. He is known for his innovative use of traditional forms and instruments in combination with contemporary music. Born in San Francisco in 1955, he was raised in the Caribbean and Cape Verdean traditions of this family, surrounded by music. He is widely respected as one of the top writers, teachers and historians in the field.
Friday, January 15th – 8:00 PM
Reichhold Center – St. Thomas – Mario Canonge Trio
H. Lavity Stoutt – Tortola – Danilo Perez Trio
Island Center – St. Croix – Omar Sosa with John Santos
Saturday, January 16th – 8:00 PM
Reichhold Center – St. Thomas – Danilo Perez Trio
H. Lavity Stoutt – Tortola – Omar Sosa with John Santos
Island Center – St. Croix – Mario Canonge
Sunday, January 17th – 8:00 PM*
Reichhold Center – St. Thomas – Omar Sosa with John Santos
* H. Lavity Stoutt – Tortola – Mario Canonge – 4:00 PM
Island Center – St. Croix – Danilo Perez Trio
Editor's Note: Renee Heider is the program manager for the Reichhold Center for the Arts