CitCo Financial Director reports irregularities to police

Turning to the City Council, after Mayor Zenaida Moya Flowers was elected for a second term, Prime Minister Dean Barrow assigned Patrick Tillett as Financial Director to look after the councils finances. Since then, Moya Flowers has made it publicly clear that Tillett’s place is inside “his little office” and that he is not the one who answers to the people because he was not elected. While that may be true, he does answer to the Ministry of Local Government and Tillett has recently made reports of financial mismanagement at City Hall. No amounts have been released, but when we contacted the Ministry, we were told that Tillett has found that the way revenues received by the council are administered, is not in accordance with financial regulations. This has been placed in the hands of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Prime Minister Barrow said at his press conference that arrests can be expected.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“I’m deadly serious about the commitments I made to the Belizean public. In that context, I want to tell you that the Financial Controller or Regulator—I’m not sure what the term is—that we put in place at the Belize City Council. Remember we passed a law in December that gave the Minister of Local Government the power to send in a regulator if he was of the view that the affairs of the council so required. We also introduced some new accounting regulations with penalties for breaches of those regulations. That Financial Regulator, who is Mr. Patrick Tillett reported to my office and to the Ministry of Local Government, that during the course of his work, he has uncovered what he deemed to be some serious financial irregularities. We and the Ministry arranged for him to make statement to the police. That has now been done and it is my sense that arrests are going to be made in consequence of the report formally given to the police by Mr. Tillett.”