Date Set for Evidentiary Hearing in Mon Ethos Case

Superior Court Judge Denise M. Francois has rejected a motion to vacate a temporary restraining order in the V.I. government’s complaint against cybersecurity company Mon Ethos Pro Support until an evidentiary hearing is held on Aug. 29.

Francois is newly assigned to the case after Judge Carol Thomas-Jacobs recused herself on Thursday after Mon Ethos owner David Whitaker sought her disqualification because she directed the company’s work on a murder investigation in 2022 when she was attorney general and could be called as a witness.

The DOJ filed a complaint against Mon Ethos and Whitaker on Aug. 2 in V.I. Superior Court, along with a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunction, alleging the company breached its contract for cybersecurity services with the V.I. Police Department and was threatening to delete data critical to ongoing investigations and court cases.

The government alleges Mon Ethos demanded payment of $479,795 in June for work done over the previous three months “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.