Websites hawked passports long past deadline
Viewers who keep track of such things will notice that for the last seven consecutive newscasts we have led with a story on the passport scandal… and tonight makes number eight. With Prime Minister Said Musa coming under increased pressure to take more immediate action, information continues to surface indicating that the illegal sale of Belizean nationality was widespread and brazen, with several self-styled agents operating so openly that they almost functioned as employees of the Immigration Department. At the same time these people and many others continued to publicly advertise the sale of Belizean citizenship in the international media, particularly the internet. And that’s where we begin tonight with Ann-Marie Williams reporting.
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting
That so many people around the world want to buy a Belizean passport should come as no surprise. Despite a constitutional amendment, effective January fifteenth, that made the practice illegal, agents around the world continued to advertise and sell Belizean nationality, right up until July.
This week News 5 did a cursory search on the internet and came up with a half dozen enterprises claiming to be ready, willing and able to put you in business with a new passport-or even a new identity. A quick check of the persons behind the website shows that the operators range from obscure freeloaders based in Russia, to one of the most prominent international accounting firms in the world.
It must be pointed out that prior to January fifteenth the marketing of Belizean nationality, under government’s economic citizenship programme, was perfectly legal. We cast no aspersions on those people or companies who became registered agents and carried out the aims of the programme, which was to raise much needed hard currency for the treasury. If at the same time it raised significant sums of the agents, so much the better.
But that success contained the seeds of the problem. Business was apparently so good that some agents, like drug addicts, just couldn’t kick the habit, even when it became illegal.
One of the most successful immigration agents is Manolo Romero. Romero, a former Chief Information Officer and long-time computer aficionado, continues to advertise the sale of Belizean nationality in magazines like the Economist and on his website under the name Belize Passport Consultants. The website makes no mention that the official programme has ended. And it is believed that Romero has remained very active in the passport business through a wide network of associates around the world.
We wanted to discuss with Romero how he managed to still sell Belize passports after it was no longer legal, but the immigration expert wasn’t interested. When News Director Stewart Krohn called him on Tuesday in Belmopan, his statement consisted of six words: Bye Stewart, have a good day.
From Romero our search engine turned us on to a number of other websites. Offshore Experts Company Limited gives an address in Driftwood Bay, a well to do neighbourhood on the Northern Highway near the Haulover Bridge. The phone number listed did not answer, but the mystery was solved this morning when Douglas Singh, UDP candidate for Freetown called into the Radio Krem morning talk show and explained that the site was his. Singh told listeners, however, that the website was created in 1999 and that he had neglected to update it to eliminate the section on passports. Singh said that even when the passport program was legal, his company never did become involved in the business.
A similar explanation was offered by a company owned by a political operator from the ruling party. The Apex Trust website identifies its director as Eamon Courtenay, a Senator appointed by representing the PUP. When we called Apex in Belize City, we were told by employee Lisa Peyrefitte that Apex was not in the passport business and that they had merely neglected to update their website.
Website neglect seems to be an epidemic in Belize, but the next company to plead forgetfulness is supposed to be well vaccinated. The firm KPMG is one of the biggest accounting and financial services companies in the world. This is no backroom operation run by Gabby Affif or Jose Shoman. So how is it that the website KPMG Belize is still advertising passport sales, more than six months after such sales became illegal? That’s what we wanted to know. According to KPMG’s boss, Stanley Ermeav, it was another case of website fever. “It was a serious oversight”, he told us “it should have been removed.” Indeed, it must have been very serious because right there on the screen it says the site was updated as recently as May.
How could a multi-national accounting firm, which prides itself on propriety and integrity, commit such a grave oversight? Only Stanley Ermeav and his bosses abroad can explain that, but contacts in the Caribbean tell News 5 that it is well known in offshore circles that KPMG Belize is the place to go for a passport.
There are other websites hawking Belizean nationality, including one, based in Michigan offering big discounts if you buy before June thirtieth. Indeed, if we didn’t know that the “bucket sale” of passports had been abolished, we’d think that Belizean nationality was no different than panades, meat pies or seaweed. Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.
For the record, we would like to note that we did find one company on the internet that did what the others failed to do. The website belonging to International Services Limited, run by Santiago Gomez of Belize City, clearly states in the opening paragraphs that the Belize Citizenship Programme is no longer available…and suggests that Dominica is a good second choice.
