Flowers Says It Was Much More than $50,000

Mark Flowers

But Flowers tells an entirely different story than that of the minister.  According to Flowers, Mason made it known to him that he was part owner of the football club after handing over well over a hundred thousand dollars to Saldivar, but he could not appear as co-owner because he didn’t have an account in Belize.  In one instance, Mason was purportedly summoned to the Bullfrog Restaurant to deliver ten thousand dollars in U.S. currency as recent as April of this year.

Supt. Mark Flowers, Former Commander, GSU

“And then I started questioning him about his political connections.  I said you have a lot of good friends and he started off and that’s when he told me that he had bought off fifty percent shares in the Bandits football club and how on a morning, one Sunday morning he was at home when he got this telephone call from a politician asking him for twenty thousand dollars, ten thousand U.S. dollars or demanding ten thousand U.S dollars in addition to ninety thousand dollars that he had already paid towards the purchase of fifty percent shares in the Bandits football club.  Yeah, it was an interesting conversation, one that I have documented but I will, by the end of, I hope by the end of whatever time I go to prison, I want to have a very frank discussion with Mason inside there to follow up on that information and to then provide the prime minister and perhaps the U.S. Embassy with a comprehensive report on Danny Mason.”

Isani Cayetano

“Mr. Flowers, let me interject quickly to keep the train of thought.  In terms of a timeline, two things here.  The politician that you speak of is the Minister of National Security John Saldivar, who is also the owner of the Belmopan Bandits.  That is one.  He has gone on record on two occasions, including last night, Monday night, to say that he had accepted fifty thousand dollars on behalf of the Belmopan Bandits.  One: do you know that to be true based on your inside knowledge of what transpired there and two: was this around September of last year or thereafter?”

Supt. Mark Flowers

“I spoke to Mason and he told me about his shares, it was certainly no fifty thousand dollars.  It was perhaps fifty thousand U.S.  But it certainly wasn’t fifty thousand Belize.  He spoke specifically to ten thousand U.S. that was delivered at Bullfrog Restaurant on a Sunday morning.  He made that delivery to Bullfrog Restaurant to Saldivar personally on a Sunday morning at the Bullfrog and there were other people at the Bullfrog when that money was delivered.  Certainly these people were friends, this is May I’m talking about this year.  April 2016.  Up until then they were still friends as far as I know and that is what Mason said to me.”