ST. CROIX — Governor Albert Bryan Jr. announced Monday during a press briefing at Government House on St. Croix that his administration has partnered with Municipal Vendor Services, or MVSI, to speed up government payments to vendors, acknowledging that the government is slow to pay its vendors.
A Google search shows that Municipal Vendor Services Inc. and its principals are being named in a pending federal securities lawsuit in New Jersey.
The lawsuit alleges the company was created to siphon money away from investors in an earlier company founded by its two principals.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by Discover Growth Fund II, LLC, names Municipal Vendor Services and its two founders, Theodore Ellenis and Robert Miragliotta, as defendants.
Bryan told WTJX in a text message that he was unaware of the lawsuit.
Bryan said during the press briefing that Municipal Vendor Services, or MVSI, will pay vendors upfront once their government purchase orders and invoices are verified.
“If you have a purchase order and you have the invoice you fulfilled, they verify that you have provided the goods or the services, and they pay you right away,” he said.
The governor said vendors would pay a premium for the service and urged them to speak with the company about the cost. He said the Virgin Islands government would owe MVSI the amount it pays out to vendors, without interest.
“I’m really excited about this because it just makes the process faster,” Bryan said. “It cheapens our cost of money, and the last thing it does is it helps us account for all the invoices that are out there.”
Bryan did not say how much the premium would be or how the company was selected.
Municipal Vendor Services, the company named in the lawsuit, is a Delaware corporation, according to court records. On its website, the company describes itself as a financial technology company that helps government contractors “get paid faster” and advertises payments “in as little as 72 hours.”
The company’s website identifies Ellenis as founding member, president, and CEO, and Miragliotta as founding member, vice president, and chief financial officer. The two men make up the company’s board of directors.
However, the company that Bryan signed the Memorandum of Understanding with is listed as MVSI USVI SPE, LLC with Miragliotta’s signatory as its CFO. The company was issued a Virgin Islands business license on April 2, which listed its business activity as “applying for a general business license to raise capital to open financial consulting services to facilitate expedited payments to municipal vendors.” Their license is “commercial factoring and accounts receivable purchasing services.” Bryan signed the MOU on April 10.
Discover Growth Fund II filed suit on March 24, 2025. The case, Discover Growth Fund II, LLC v. Ellenis et al., is listed by the court as a securities case brought under the Securities Exchange Act. The complaint describes the fund as an entity of the Virgin Islands of the United States.
The suit centers on Municipal Finance & Services Corp. (MFSC), a New Jersey company where Ellenis served as CEO and chairman, according to the complaint. MFSC marketed an “Accelerated Municipal Payments” platform. It filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in New Jersey on June 21, 2024.
Discover Growth Fund alleged that “MFSC was a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by serial fraudsters Theodore Ellenis and Robert Miragliotta, and their nefarious cohorts, who together defrauded plaintiff and other” investors. The complaint also alleged that MFSC’s board fired Ellenis and Miragliotta.
The Fund’s complaint alleged that once MFSC received its investment, “Ellenis, Miragliotta, and their minions quickly squandered it.” According to the complaint, investor money went to “personal expenses including prostitutes, Ellenis’s daughter’s private school tuition, Caribbean vacations, food and liquor,” as well as “unnecessary new offices that cost approximately $500,000 per year.” The Fund said some of what it learned came from sworn questioning in MFSC’s bankruptcy case.
An amended complaint filed April 18, 2025, added Municipal Vendor Services and another company, Government Finance & Services Inc., as defendants. The Fund alleged that Municipal Vendor Services was created by Ellenis, Miragliotta, and others to “siphon away plaintiff’s money, as well as other investors’ money,” along with business from MFSC.
According to the complaint, Ellenis has said Municipal Vendor Services differs from MFSC because it markets its services to vendors rather than municipalities.
Ellenis and Miragliotta filed answers to the allegations and brought counterclaims and crossclaims of their own against other former MFSC officers and directors.
The case is before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo. On November 2, Ellenis and Miragliotta filed a brief opposing a motion to dismiss their amended crossclaims. Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa has set a telephonic conference for January 19, 2027.
