Companies Registry refunds G.O.B.’s 2.5 million

It’s hardly likely to quiet the public outcry over the scandal at the Registry, but today the Ministry of Finance announced it has a received a refund of the two point five million dollars in stamp duty it paid to the Companies Registry from the sale of B.T.L. shares to Ecom and Sunshine Holdings on September nineteenth. A release from the Ministry says it has received a cheque and that the collection is “in keeping with the decision taken by Cabinet on October eighteenth to end the arrangement between the Government of Belize and the Belize Intellectual Property Office, BELIPO, and to ensure a full refund of the stamp duty paid.” The Ministry emphasised that in addition, they have taken full control of the Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry and Intellectual Property Office and that both will continue to operate from their present location. But the scandal is not likely to go away quietly and earlier this week the United Democratic Party called for the resignation of Minister Godfrey Smith for his alleged involvement in the privatisation of the Registry despite his position as a member of Cabinet. News Five’s attempts on Thursday and again today to get a response from Minister Smith were unsuccessful.