Defence Minister John Saldivar Sent on Leave in Wake of Fresh Danny Mason investigation
On Monday, the P.M. announced that Minister of Agriculture Gaspar Vega had resigned from cabinet, but not as area rep. Today, there is another move that will affect cabinet, but only for one week. The beheading of Pastor Llewellyn Lucas in July this year brought to light the relationship between Minister John Saldivar and murder suspect William Mason. In fact, the gruesome murder revealed that Mason was so highly connected that a long list of ministers visited his home on Intelco Hill. The then Minister of National Security, Saldivar, was named by colleagues as the man who had introduced them to Mason. Saldivar has maintained that he severed ties with Mason when the shadiness of his character came to his attention. He also admitted that Mason had provided fifty thousand dollars towards the Belmopan Bandits Football Club which Saldivar owns. On Monday, however, there were documents presented to show that Mason was in fact co-owner of the holding company for the Bandits club. Saldivar soon enough fired back in the afternoon with the explanation that the company he formed with Mason in August of 2015 was not functional. In fact, he claimed that he had cut off business ties in September; one month after Mason had become a shareholder in the Bandits Sporting Club Limited, the holding company for the Belmopan Bandits Football Club. Saldivar and Mason were seventy-thirty partners in the company. But in December, Saldivar began a different company, one Bandits Sports, and this was registered in August of 2016, a year after the first company. The sordid affair involving Mason is back on the front burner. The P.M. promised on Monday that he would look into the matter. Well, it was announced this afternoon that Saldivar has been put on one week’s leave of absence. Legal advice is to be obtained on whether the steps Saldivar took were “enough to effectively sever the business relationship established between the Minister and Mason by the formation of the company.” For context, this is what Saldivar had to say in July when he was pressed about Mason. At the time, there was no confirmation that Mason had shares in the Bandits.
John Saldivar
John Saldivar, Minister of National Security [File: July 26th, 2016]
“I have not had any contact with Mr. Mason since last year, that’s what I’ve said and I stand by that.”
Reporter
“Of course he might have caught feelings, so to say, when you severed your relationship with him. Was there any such thing?”
John Saldivar
“I don’t know, I haven’t spoken to him so I don’t know what his feelings were, I don’t know anything about that and I won’t make any assumptions about it.”
Reporter
“He was a contributor to your football club. Did he ever make any contact to you to say, “What’s going on? I contributed to you and you’re not talking to me anymore?”
John Saldivar
“I basically disassociated myself from him and I think that speaks for itself. I disassociated myself.”
Reporter
“Sir while you’ve admitted that yes there were contributions, can you give us an amount?”
John Saldivar
“Well it was over a period of time but I would say in excess of fifty thousand for sure. Semi-pro football is not a cheap venture as you know and he hasn’t contributed for the last two seasons. He is not a part of my organization anymore.”
Reporter
“Were there any conditions to that contribution?”
John Saldivar
“Conditions like what? No, no conditions. He represented himself as somebody who loves sports. He had been contributing to other semi-pro football teams in the country at the time and he decided he wanted to help my team.”
Reporter
“When he contributed to your football club, how was this done? Check? Cash? What?”
John Saldivar
“Cash.”
Reporter
“Didn’t that raised any flags?”
John Saldivar
“What kind of flags would it raise Marisol? In the general course of things, we solicit sponsorships for various activates that we do, not just football but even community activities. Many of these are given by cash, that didn’t raised any red flags at all and like I said, it was one payment of fifty thousand dollars, it was over a period of time.”
This afternoon, Saldivar got religious in a message on his Facebook page, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. For those who may be wondering, I have humbly accepted the Prime Minister’s decision. I look forward to my name being cleared once and for all. Still, I rise.”
