City Council finance dept and mayor make bail

In court this morning, the mayor was read a single criminal charge; twenty-two counts of Uttering a False Document. The charge relates to checks for fuel Paid to Esso Service Center between the months of March and July, which add up to a meager seventy dollars. The City Council’s Financial Director, Dwain Davis, and City Administrator Kiran Vanjani, were each read similar charges for checks made out in the month of March and also totaling seventy dollars. This afternoon they returned to court at two o’clock to allow the Mayor’s Lead Defense Attorney, Michael Peyrefitte, time to argue discrepancies on the charge sheet. When that was settled, Mayor Moya Flowers, Davis, and the fourth CitCo employee being charged, Kiran Bhudrani, were jointly charged with two counts each of Failure to Comply with the Belize City Council Regulations. It is alleged that the three were in violation of City Council regulations number sixteen and twenty-six when they allowed cash payments of over fifty dollars between April eighth and twenty-ninth of this year. Prosecutor in the case, Sergeant Egbert Castillo, indicated that no pleas would be taken because the matter is being dealt with on indictment. There were no objections to bail, which was granted as follows: for their twenty-four counts Moya Flowers, Davis and Vanjani were granted bail of fifteen thousand dollars each while Bhudrani must pay three thousand since she is only charged with two counts. All four are due back in court on November fifth.