Minister of Immigration Says Sting was Organized to Catch Hustlers

Godwin Hulse

Last week at the House of Representatives, there was talk of yet another Immigration scandal. This one involved the procuring and issuing of nationality documents to residents of the southern community of Bella Vista for a thousand dollars each. Toledo East Area Representative, Mike Espat, went so far as to call the names of Acting Director of Immigration Maria Marin and Immigration staffer Ana Alpuche as somehow being connected to the scam. But in the Senate on Wednesday, Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse claimed that it was actually a well-organized sting set up by the department.

Godwin Hulse, Minister of Immigration

“On Thursday, October the twenty-ninth, 2015, I was informed as then minister responsible for immigration by the chairman of Bella Vista Village that some twelve persons had paid for and received nationality certificates from an operative who claimed to be an immigration official. On Friday, October the thirtieth, 2015, the chairman brought a copy of one of the certificates to the offices of the Department of Immigration. I convened a meeting with the director and the C.E.O. who both, like myself, immediately recognized this document to be a fake. Everything was wrong—the paper, the printing, no seal, a signature that bare no close resemblance to any immigration minister; present or past, no oath on the certificate. But it was obviously important that we find a way to apprehend the scam artist. So Miss Marin and I travelled to Bella Vista on Sunday, the thirty-first of October to meet with these people, for the purpose of one, checking on their legal status; two, finding out exactly what occurred and how it was done; and three, to get an exact idea of the person or persons with whom they were involved. Present at that meeting was the chairman of the village, a police officer, the Director of Immigration, myself and the standard bearer for Toledo East at the time and candidate, Mister Eden Martinez. One by one, the director interviewed each of the twelve persons and checked on their legal status in the country and their preparedness to be witnesses in this case. While there, we learnt that another ten certificates were being prepared for additional persons to be delivered on the following Monday. The persons were to travel to Belize City on Tuesday morning for a rendezvous with the operatives at eight o’clock and to meet at a prearranged location. All the relevant personnel at the highest level of the security forces were informed and arrangements were made to nab these persons in the act. Mister President this was done and at eight a.m. on Friday morning, two persons were arrested. And they were subsequently charged and released on bail. Since it is public knowledge, both persons…the names are Mark Antonio Rosales and Marcos Basto, a former B.D.F. officer.”

As we mentioned on Wednesday, Hulse is demanding an apology from Toledo East Area Representative Mike Espat.