Director of Immigration, Gareth Murillo, removed from his post following immigration scandal
The Immigration Department is rocked by a huge immigration scandal. While many people believe that the transgressions go all the way to the top, it seems a public officer is taking the fall. Gareth Murillo, who has been with the department for about six years, is being moved from his post as Director of Immigration effective Monday. He has been transferred to the Transport Department and will be replaced, we are told by public officer, Ruth Meighan. At the onset of Channel Five’s special investigation into the human smuggling ring, Murillo sat down with News Five’s Jose Sanchez and explained how the policies work in respect of visas issued to Chinese nationals. When questioned about Cuba, Murillo indicated very clearly that any Cuba related visa, he approves is at the behest of the Ministry of Immigration and Defense. The Minister, Carlos Perdomo, told another media house that he personally sat with Murillo to approve visas to be issued at the Belize Embassy in Cuba. The scandal has also exposed that questionable visas have been granted to Sri Lankan and Somalis holding Kenyan Passports. Six immigration officers have been arrested and charged but others in much higher places including those at the Embassy in Cuba, are untouched in this issue that seriously “imperils the nation”. The Vision Inspired by the People, the People’s United Party as well as Belizeans for Justice, have stated that the government needs to have an independent investigation into the matter. Prime Minister Dean Barrow has offered blind support to Minister Perdomo and said no to an independent commission but now Murillo is rolling. We have more on this on Thursday.
ONLY TRANSFER??? HOW ABOUT BEING INVESTIGATED, AND IF GUILTY, TO BE CHARGED AND ESPECIALLY SENTENCED IN PRISON??? BUT ALONG WITH PERDOMO…
ARE WE BELIZEANS TO BE SATISFIED WITH A SIMPLE TRANSFER, NOT EVEN FIRED!!!
WHERE ARE THE TRADE UNIONS? THE BELIZE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE? THE SENATE? THE GOVERNOR GENERAL?
WHY NOT JOIN FORCES TO PRESSURE THE GOVERNMENT FOR AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION ????
WHAT IS BARROW AFRAID OF? LOGICALLY, IF I AM INVOLVED IN AN ILLEGAL ACTIVITY, I WOULD NOT WANT AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION!!!
damn gob
ok gareth if you dont spill the beans on the rest of this gov we will assume that you have been paid off to be quite people we need to keep an eye on this guys bank accounts if they inflate then we know but maybe he will do the right thing and spill the beans on the rest of this corrupt gov. Now is the time in your life gareth that will determine your future you will eighter be a good person or you will be another thief in this corrupt gov. i hope you choose the right path but if you were in charge you should be locked up for incompetence along with perdomo you should be locked up with perdomo for incompetence, treason , and spying. this gov really thinks the belize people are so stupid this is not enough people need to be jailed not moved around in the same gov. . if this guy was incompetent in his job as immigration officer why is he being given another position so he can steal more at the transportation department this is truly a sick gov sick sick sick.
They meant transfer to Hattieville ramada along with the other crooks inside and above in the
Ministry of national security—lets hear about the real ARREST for these Huge crimes.
Somebody has to take the fall, he is next in command under the minister. Since he has been there for 6 years, there is no reason to believe that he was unaware of the scam. I understand a brother has to eat but he should have covered his behind when UDP took over & alert his boss to the irregularities in their department. I have no doubt the minister would still claim ignorance but a principled employee with a conscience would not go with the flow.
The minister should lose his portfolio, this happened on his watch.
COME ON MURILLO, SPIT IT OUT…..BEFORE IT COME BACK AND BITE YOU IN THE @$$……BEST YO TALK UP.
It is all bs this move is only being done to pacify the public and make it look like the government is really interested in resolving these issues.
There is obviously a cover up and if Murillo is really the top dog in all this then he should be fired but since he is not he has entered into a compromise to be transferred and shut up, this is not to say that he is not partially responsible for what has been going on but since Mr. Barrow has already placed himself on the line for Perdomo this is mainly to protect his reputation or whatever is left of it and the real perpetrator.
Thye problem with these kind of action in government in Belize, is that it is never the official that takes the fall, it is always the underling. Murillo did not make those decisions by himself, his boss approved what he did. Belize politicians are not strategic thinkers or can they reason things out before doing them. Belize is being used as a jumping off place for so much junk stuff. I would be ashamed to be in government, the rest of the world sees how stupid and ignorant and greedy the officials are, so they use them. Not untill the citizens, take to the streets and demand better will they get better.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
The Prime Minister said NO to an independent investigation.
How’s the tanya Hulse thing going on in London. no word yet from the FO sent to cover up her barrowing of Belizean tax payers money. me think they go after the HC in London Ms Palma. I wonder what lies they try to make up to cover for this Tanya Hulse. When will Rosado resign??? problems in Cuba and London. Is Rosie rosado capable of holding his CEO job?????.
Murillo forced out cause they know he can sell them….poiticians dem a fraud!!
This gangster regime needs to be removed. they are all a bunch of crooks. The problem is that there are to few honest people in politics. we are seeing this in Cuba And London with Hulse, the good are so out numbered by the bad it is imposible to get any change for the good of Belize.
Perdomo,Hulse,Rosado etc etc etc how many more????
They treat the people of Belize like fools.
They should all be investigated and removed not to hold office again.
That’s good … he needed to be transferred a long time ago , all this immigration scandal has been happening ever since he was the director , hope he is given a post that does not allow him to touch any GOB funds.
Now lets get rid of Murrillio’s boss since this happened under his watch also–pm may want to do this asap before Murrillio’s boss begins to FEEL LIKE CRYING AGAIN!
Transfered? He should be fired. How stupid can this be to fool the Belize people again. He should not be alowed to hold any government job anymore. Let’s get real there is a lot more pople involved in this and someone has to be strong and denounce all this rascals……
How blind we as Belizean can been It is happen again and we even can’t see, because we are so stupid to let the government step all over us. We the people are responsible for what is going on. We elected those people in the first place, so with that we have a voice to demand what we want from them that is a full investigation of the whole matter that is plaguing the country. We as Belizean should get out and protest these matter, and stop sitting down and let these politicians do what ever they want it is time to act my fellowmen, we been ran over too many times and don’t do anything about it. Let our voice be heard. They should be serving us not us serving them, so they can do what they want and get away with it. Look if we don’t do anything about it, it will surly happen over and over again. These people don’t need to be transfer to another department to do the same thing again. They need to be transported to the court and off to jail to serve a good amount of time for sell out heir country. I don’t care who it is fare is fare. I hope the judge don’t feel too sorry for these low life scum and give them the maximum punishment.
These crooks treat the GOB money like an overdraft. get short at the end week thats ok help yourself to the GOB money and pay back when you can. But Dont let the cheque bounce???.
We need to identify honest people and put them in charge. we need to fill the jobs with non related people. put procedures in place to stop and identify these crooks. we need to pay more attention to what our COE’s and ministers do and who they promote to jobs. Hulse father and daughter owe money all over the place, how can these people hold government jobs. Daughter being protected by Rosado, rosado pressuring Finacial officer, rosado being presured by Hulse senior, ??????? the whole crooked lot should be investigated properly and independently.
STOP TALKING AND MORE ACTIONS. BELIZEAN THERE IS NEED FOR REBELLION. COME ON ANIMAL FARM STORY ?
WE GET yo Fromafar
I have to agree with roots man GOB will say and do anything to make it look like they doing something about this mess
Nothing will come of this, even if he is investigated they might find clerical errors, or lapse in judgement…. Look at the KHMH, it makes no sense to investigate, nothing happens, they will continue to get away. Proper REFORM is needed.
While I’m not saying there should NOT be an investigation, but what will that lead to? Hours of watching people LIE on TV, then the findings leading to NOTHING???? Frankly, am bored with that…
We need honest people to come forward with the truth. blow the lid on all this corruption.
the only problem is they fear for their jobs. they need the support of the belizean people to stop these good honest people losing their jobs. support from the people support from the press.
It would be nice just once when a scandal breaks that a public officer takes responsibility and offers his resignation.
what about Maria Marin, the cousin of the next minister. She signed documents for Sri Lankans too!
It appears to be that Belizeans have short term memory. Now that UDP is in power the PUP is finding blame for human trafficing and the illegal issuing of passports and visas to foreginers. This has been an ongoing trend within the ministry of immigration and its fculprits within the police department for over a decade. Lets recall the scandal with James Wong, Minister of immigration Maxwell Samuels, Paulino Castellanos, the Lebanese ring Jose Shoman, these are some of the names of those involved in the passpost scandals under the PUP administration. It is time that the Belizean ask for complete reschuffling of those in offices.
damm wat is happening to this government?dat is the reason why we do not prosper!!!!!!
Freeze all the ministers and their cronies bank accounts. They are getting rich off our country while the poor are suffering. No Jobs, no help from this government. Six a one and half a dozen a d next.
WHY WASNT GARETH MURILLO FIRED DOES HE KNOW TOO MUCH AND IF HE IS FIRED HE WOULD SPILL THE BEANS SO LETS JUST GIVE HIM ANOTHER JOB AND KEEP HIS PAYCHECK THE SAME SO HE SHUTS UP? IS THIS THE PLAN IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY HE WOULD BE PUT IN JAIL FOR FRAUD AND TREASON THATS A LIFE SENTENCE BUT I THINK THAT WOULD IMPLICATE PERDOMO AND IN DOING THAT IT MIGHT IMPLICATE DEAN BARROW …..BUT I C U NUGGA
You all are so ridiculous and blind!! If any of you are civil servants in the government of Belize, you would know that REGARDLESS, the Ministers have the final say. The political system in Belize is EXTRAORDINARILY corrupt, and if any of you had any sense, you would realize that. Mr. Murillo has been working with the Immigration Department for over 20 years. He comes from a very respectable family and I am confident that he is not the one to be blamed for these transgressions. BELIZEANS OPEN YOUR EYES!! They are not removing Mr. Murillo because HE did something wrong, they are simply putting someone in his former post whom they could control and manipulate. These POLITICIANS, NOT the civil servants, are the ones getting thousands of dollars from these passports! Once again I say, OPEN UP YOUR EYES. I’m terribly disappointed in the IGNORANCE of all the people who have commented thus far on this article. It’s very sad that parents have sacrificed so much to send you all to school, yet you are clearly very MIS-EDUCATED! Wisen up my people!!
Did the PM himself not said that public officers are “free to disagree except you can’t say I disagree and I won’t comply with your directive”, or “the old rule ‘complain and then comply’ “? (Reference: Channel 7 News of 4 November “PM Backs Up Perdomo/Chastens Palma”).
Murillo is just the scape goat here. Come on people, we have big issues, rooted in from the top. We need the help of International Agencies to help us curve this corruption in our country. God help us and pray that it is not too late.
has it ever occurred to you guys that there is nothing on Perdomo. most of you dont even know the guy otherwise you would know what a gentleman and man of integrity he is. come on guys not all politicians are bad