Bradley Paumen Out on Bail

Bradley Paumen

But a U.S. businessman is facing some serious charges in Belize for allegedly ordering a hit on four persons.  Last week, Bradley Paumen, the owner of Dark Night tours, was detained and tonight he is a free man, at least for the moment. He was granted bail when an application was made before Justice Antoinette Moore by his attorney, Ellis Arnold. Paumen had been remanded since January eighth, when he was arraigned on four counts of Abetment to Murder. The Paumen matter ranks up there with some of the most disturbing cases we’re ever had to report. The American is accused of hiring a hit man to execute Iranian-American businessman Michael Modiri, Modiri’s Belizean attorney, a witness in a civil suit against Paumen which is currently ongoing, and also Modiri’s bodyguard. Paumen was actually recorded while talking to the man he hired to kill those four persons, and Police have that recording. So what’s the motive? Police believe where the hit on Modiri is concerned, it’s all business. Modiri owns the piece of land through which tourists must travel to access caves which Dark Night needs. In 2013, while Modiri was in the US, Paumen pulled very high-level political strings to have government compulsorily acquire a portion of Modiri’s land on which he then pushed through a three quarter mile long road which tourists could use to access the caves. When Modiri returned to the country he promptly took Paumen and the government to Court, and is seeking damages. Also, because of the location of the land parcels, Modiri can only get to his land through Paumen’s property, so he is asking the Court to allow him access. The decision in the substantive matter is due on January twenty-ninth, so investigators believe Paumen just wanted Modiri out the way, as he did the local attorney, the witness and the bodyguard. In court this morning, D.P.P. Cheryl-Lyn Vidal objected vigorously to bail on several grounds. Paumen is a very wealthy American with assets in Belize and in the US, and according to Vidal was certainly a flight risk. But even more importantly, Vidal argued, was the nature of the charges against Paumen, and the real risk that he would be able to access the alleged targets while out on bail. Additionally, each of the four counts of Abetment to Murder carries a life sentence upon conviction. The D.P.P. even pointed to the very recent and unpleasant David Nanes Schnitzer matter, in which the fugitive was granted bail and disappeared. But with all that, Justice Antonette Moore made the decision to grant bail, and Paumen, accused of putting a hit on four persons, is out of jail tonight.