Immigration inquiry lacks focus
The fact that nobody, except two members of the press, showed up at the Central Bank this morning to hear the findings of the Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate the Immigration Department, may be a definite sign that nobody is expecting much. But commissioners Paul Rodriguez, Mark Hulse and Sylvester Romero Palma remain undaunted in their quest. The problem is, we’re not sure what they’re looking for. Today, they heard the testimony of Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Alan Usher. Viewers will recall that on July twenty-second, Usher was ordered to conduct an administrative examination of the department by Prime Minister Said Musa. Usher told the panel that he was briefed by both the P.M. and then Minister of Immigration, Maxwell Samuels, and subsequently told to investigate the allegations of irregularities until he found any evidence of criminality. At that point, he was to submit a report and the matter would be dealt with by the police.
This morning, Usher told the commission that he stands by his initial findings derived from the documents he reviewed, in that, one: no nationality applications were processed under the BECIP program after January fourteenth. Two: the nationality applications and passport applications were fully completed and contained all information required by law. And three: the Belize nationality applications disclosed no irregularities.
But upon interrogation, Usher revealed that those statements were based solely on interviews with people who had in fact been named in the allegations, including then Director of Immigration Paulino Castellanos. As to the forms inspected, Usher said “on face value, the form was perfect including the signature and certification of the Director of Immigration, saying the file was in order…giving the Minister the go ahead to sign.” But Usher says because of time constraints, mainly due to public pressure, he could not guarantee that the information on the form was factual, or even check to see if the referees on the forms even existed.
The problem of course is that Usher was not looking for wrongdoing. News 5 is, however, and our own investigation found plenty. The documents we examined were obviously filled out and even signed by people other than the applicants. The addresses were incomplete and patently fictitious. The only genuine signatures on the applications were those of the JPs attesting to the length of time they had known the applicant. Sad to say however, that while the signatures were real, the information they swore to was not. When we approached one of the justices of the peace in July, Rudolph Thimbriel, he suddenly found other things to do.
Ann-Marie Williams
“Afternoon, Mr. Thimbriel here? Mr. Thimbriel, just a minute.”
Rudolph Thimbriel, Justice of the Peace
“Noh even start.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“My name is Ann-Marie from Channel 5…”
Rudolph Thimbriel
“Noh even start it, please.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Well, you could say what you want; I come ask you some questions.”
Rudolph Thimbriel
“I noh prepared to answer none, remain silent.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Mr. Thimbriel, you could remain silent, but I need to ask you something. We’re doing an investigation and there are some people who apply for passports and you as a J.P. signed on the paper…”
Rudolph Thimbriel
“Bye, have a nice day.” (walks away)
Ann-Marie Williams
“So I’m asking you, you signed on these papers here, do you know these people? See, you’re a J.P. just like myself, do you know these people?” (gets into his truck) Are you consenting to doing it and didn’t know better? (drives away)
Justice of the Peace Max Santos may have been a little more helpful, but did not inspire confidence in the system.
Ann-Marie Williams
“You meet any of these people?”
Max Santos
“I noh meet them, that’s why I tell you I noh meet deh, that’s why I put not applicable.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“But what does B.N.A. mean?”
Max Santos
“Not applicable.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“B.N.A. can’t mean not applicable.”
Max Santos
“Yes.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Mr. Santos, this is a serious thing. Watch all of these people…”
Max Santos
“I put Belize Not Applicable because…”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Belize not applicable? What does that mean?”
Max Santos
“This noh go fi these people none at all.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“How do you mean, noh go fi these people none at all?”
Max Santos
“Yes.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“You know any of these people?”
Max Santos
“Of course not.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“So why you sign your name on this thing?”
Max Santos
“Because… I put not applicable, because if I noh know them. I noh want put that I know them.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Yes, but what is B.N.A.?”
Max Santos
“Belize not Applicable.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Belize not applicable, is that a code? No? Who asked you to sign these things Mr. Santos?”
Max Santos
“This dah from Gabby.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Who?”
Max Santos
“Mr. Gabby.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Who is Gabby?”
Max Santos
“Beirut, weh own Beirut.”
Gabby is Gabby Affif, the self-styled immigration consultant now under investigation by police. As for Usher, today’s testimony included more than what was initially published. According to the C.E.O., during his investigation a consular officer of the U.S. embassy reported to Belmopan that a Taiwanese national had showed up requesting a visa to the States. But in the interview, the applicant admitted he had never been to Belize before and had paid approximately sixty thousand U.S. dollars for passports for himself and his family…and this was after the Economic Citizenship Programme had been outlawed. Another case involved a foreigner showing up at a point of entry with a Belize passport whose date of issue was seven weeks in the future. Hopefully, the police know where their investigation is going because the Commission of Inquiry is beginning to resemble a child’s birthday party in which someone took away the piñata and sticks, leaving only the blindfolds.
