Meighan Charged for S.S.B. Offences

Joseph Meighan

A well-known Belize City businessman, Joseph Meighan of JB’s Security Firm, was hauled to court today for failure to pay three months of Social Security for his workers.  This morning, Meighan appeared before Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith to answer to a single charge of failure to pay Social Security for workers employed in September, October and November 2014. Meighan, who appeared unrepresented and pleaded guilty to the offense, told the court that ever since he took over management of the company, he has been having financial difficulties because of his clients’ payment schedule. He went on to say that he has since made payments for two months. The Chief Magistrate explained to that although he made part payment, his action was in contravention of the Social Security Act. Social Security Prosecutor told the court that they were seeking for the minimum mandatory fine of five hundred dollars. Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith ordered Meighan to pay five hundred dollars, plus a five dollars cost of court. The businessman was asked to pay two hundred and fifty dollars immediately or three months in prison, and that the balance must be paid by March twenty-seventh, 2015, or if he defaults, he will get another three months behind bars. It must be noted that a bench warrant had been issued for Meighan, who had failed to obey the order of a court summons, which eventually led to the committal warrant. According to Social Security Prosecutor the committal warrant for Meighan is for over thirty thousand dollars. Meighan is expected to appear in court on Wednesday to answer to matters related to the failure of social security payment.