Gracie Rock village chairman charged with Theft

Walter Gillett

Village Council elections are scheduled for some time this year and there are many hopefuls running for the top spots.  But the chances for one current chairman to be re-elected appear slim after he finds himself at the center of the investigation into the theft of almost ten thousand dollars from his council.  Forty year old Walter Gillett, who has been Chairman of Gracie Rock’s Community Council since 2007 was today charge in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court with four counts of obtaining property by deception. Allegations are that between April fourteenth and May twenty-ninth of last year, a total of nine thousand eight hundred dollars in cash went missing from the village council’s bank account. According to police, within the month and a half period, Gillett made four withdrawals in the amounts of four thousand three hundred dollars, two thousand five hundred dollars, two thousand dollars and one thousand dollars respectively. Gillett pleaded not guilty to the charge and is due back in court on March twenty-ninth. The report was made by a Governmental official, Ms. Jacklyn Franklyn, of the Community Development Office.