Miami judge puts Prosser back in BTL boardroom

The final bell has not yet rung in the legal boxing match between Jeffrey Prosser and the Government of Belize…but so far Prosser is ahead on points…way ahead. Today a Federal Court in Miami ruled in favour of the U.S. Virgin Islands based tycoon and ordered G.O.B. to remove its newly appointed board members, retaining only two, while Prosser gets to appoint six, giving him back control of the company. News 5 understands that Belmopan gets to keep the fifty-seven million U.S. dollars worth of BTL shares as collateral until Prosser can pay for them.

A trial on the merits of the case has been set for May thirtieth at which time Judge Ursula Ungaro-Benages will decide whether to make the injunction permanent and return the shares to Prosser. She will also decide whether GOB fraudulently induced Prosser to assume the debt in the first place and then broke its commitments, and if so, should Prosser be awarded damages for that breech.

The ruling will go into effect on Tuesday when the detailed opinion will be published. On Monday Prosser will post a one point five million U.S. dollar bond, which will cover the Belize Government?s costs if Belmopan prevails at the May trial.

In a very non-confrontational statement following the decision, Prosser?s attorney, Lanny Davis, said that his client just wants to get on with the job.

“We look forward to proceeding to trial on an expedited basis now that the U.S. court has confirmed what we have said since February 9 — that the Government of Belize violated its contractual commitments when it improperly seized control of BTL. But, we also look forward to working with the Government of Belize on a constructive and amicable basis in the hope that that the highest level of telephone service can continue to be delivered to all Belizeans and that we will be able to successfully complete financing for the final payments of all debts owed to the Government of Belize in the near future. In the final analysis we see the Government of Belize as our partner with the high purpose and objective of acting in the best interest of all Belizeans.”

As for the issue of why the case was heard in Miami the court found that the U.S. jurisdiction was clearly spelled out in contracts signed by the Belize Government.