Embassy confirms all 5 SUVs as stolen

And in an update to the stolen car scandal, today officials from the United States Embassy in Belize informed us that further investigations by their experts have confirmed that all five luxury vehicles now in the Customs compound are indeed hot. According to Public Relations Officer for the U.S. Embassy, Edgar Embrey, the 2003 SUVs were jacked from car dealerships in Texas: the two Hummers and Chevrolet Silverado from lots in Grapevine, while one of the Cadillac Escalades was ripped off in Austin, and the second in Waco. News 5 understands that the U.S. Government is now awaiting official documentation from the National Insurance Crime Bureau and when that is received, the embassy will make a formal request to have the trucks sent back to the United States. As for what will happen to the money that Jose Shoman, Luke Espat and Rafael Chavez presumably paid for the vehicles… well that’s between them and the guys they bought them from. As for the duty paid to the Belize government, Legal Advisor to the Customs Department, Gian Ghandi, says that only Shoman actually paid customs duty as Espat’s Escalade came in under a free zone concession and the other three vehicles never did leave the customs yard. According to Ghandi, if and when the cars are shipped out, Shoman will get back his sixty-eight thousand dollars. Ghandi also told News 5 that as a result of meetings between the Customs Department and U.S. officials, in the future, Belize will work in cooperation with American agencies to verify whether a vehicle is stolen before it ever leaves the Customs compound.