DOJ Rejects Call for Attorney Fees and Costs in Mon Ethos Civil Suit

The Virgin Islands government doesn’t owe Mon Ethos Pro Support anything.

The Virgin Islands government doesn’t owe Mon Ethos Pro Support anything after it prevailed in a lawsuit against the cybersecurity firm over the return of equipment and data it held under a contract with the V.I. Police Department, the V.I. Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday.

The DOJ voluntarily dismissed the civil action against Mon Ethos and its founder David Whitaker on Aug. 27 after the property was returned. It included 54 electronic devices and the VIPD’s GrayKey — an electronic device used to unlock and retrieve data from other electronic devices — that the government said the company had been “holding hostage” in return for $479,795 it said it was owed.

That same day, Mon Ethos filed a motion for $44,820 in costs and attorneys’ fees, calling the government’s claims “entirely frivolous” and alleging that the DOJ dismissed the complaint rather than respond to Mon Ethos’s earlier motion to dismiss and award attorneys’ fees, filed Aug. 6, within the 20 days allotted by the court.