Second suspect arraigned in sales tax scam

A second employee of the Sales Tax Department has been arraigned in Magistrate’s Court for extortion. According to court reports, twenty-eight year old Ben Bol appeared before Magistrate Margaret Gabb McKenzie this morning where he pleaded not guilty to the offence and was granted bail in the sum of two thousand dollars. Bol has been ordered to reappear on January sixth. The charge stems from a report made on December second by Belize City businessman Lloyd Sutherland that two men tried to hustle him into paying thousands of dollars. According to Sutherland’s statement, the men identified themselves as representatives of the Sales Tax Department and told him he owed the money in arrears. With the receipts that he had in fact paid up all his taxes, Sutherland called in the cops and when the duo showed up to collect their first payment, police were ready. Marked bills were used in the transaction and as soon as the money changed hands, the authorities pounced. The other person charged in connection to the same case is twenty-eight year old Leodan Torres. Both Torres and Bol are employees of the Sales Tax Department in Belize City, but were never authorized to pursue the collection of tax arrears.