Garcia: S.S.B. funds were not at risk
Aside from supervising the process more carefully, is there anything that the two executives have to say to the public?
Narda Garcia, General Manager, S.S.B.
?In the case of S.S.B., I would say that we participated in the whole transaction because we were assured and insured that there was enough level of coverage in terms of the GOB guarantee, in terms of the insurance, ECT., ECT. So that at the end of the day ?our investment? so to speak, or if we had to pay in the event of a default, that we would be covered. That was the decision of the board.?
Troy Gabb
?Basically, our position is similar to the B.S.S.B., where we?re all part of the same structure in reference to the structure of the organisation with the level of government guarantee and the insurance that is supporting it. So we are confident getting into this transaction. Particularly, if you look at D.F.C. as the development bank, the mortgage box securitization is a way that we had used to continue to fund and finance our operation, which is providing continued financing to the Belizean public on a whole. So as far as the transaction itself, it was a sum transaction and we felt that if all the components worked and up to this point, we believe that most of them are working and working well, that we were able to turn over that money that we received to continue to finance in all sectors including the productive sector and providing financing for education and all the other components of our portfolio.?
According to figures released by the Social Security Board, close to forty million dollars in loans made by the S.S.B. to the D.F.C. are in arrears, with the last payments made in July 2003. According to the D.F.C.?s Gabb, those arrears will be brought up to date when D.F.C. sells a portfolio of loans, presumably to the Belize Bank, for an estimated one hundred and twenty million dollars. That, of course, is another story.
Regarding the Godfrey loans, Garcia told News 5 that she was not sure if, following the purchase of INTELCO by Jeffrey Prosser?s B.T.L., the S.S.B. secured loans would be paid off or merely taken over. She could also not say whether if they were taken over, S.S.B. would still be the guarantor of the loans in the event of a missed payment or default.
In related news, Garcia, in response to questioning by journalists, reported that S.S.B. has on its books several direct loans to private parties, including one for a hundred thousand dollars to a company owned by Ambassador Lisa Shoman and two other investors. Shoman is the daughter of S.S.B. Chairman Yasin Shoman, who at the time of the loan was Deputy Chairman.
