2005 Central Bank report reveals F.C.I.B. law violations

Earlier this week we highlighted the case of Financial Intelligence Unit versus the Belize Bank for suspicious banking transactions. But tonight a report conducted three years ago apparently found another institution in violation of the same law. News Five has obtained a copy of a Central Bank report dated October 2005 which examined FirstCaribbean International Bank’s practices between January 2001 and August 2005 which also involved Belize Telecommunications Limited. Based on the time period under investigation, the company was under the control of the Prosser Group and the Government of Belize. A closer inspection of the report reveals that the money in question was withdrawn in several large amounts. According to the report, the fact that the F.C.I.B. did not keep copies of the processed cheques is a violation of the Money Laundering Prevention Act. The report’s author also claims that the F.C.I.B. failed to submit any suspicious transaction reports to the Financial Intelligence Unit. But perhaps the most startling find of the confidential document is that the F.C.I.B. reportedly continued to facilitate cash withdrawals after the Casas de Cambio operations were abolished. All told, the total amount of money that passed through the F.C.I.B. is allegedly in the neighborhood of eight million dollars. As for a response from the bank’s management, the report indicates that “the bank had no valid explanation as to why this practice continued except that it was an oversight on the management’s part whereby the instructions to terminate the practice did not trickle down to lower level staff soon enough”. Our attempts to contact the director of the Financial Intelligence Unit were unsuccessful. Sources in the government indicate that the former head of F.C.I.B., Steve Duncan, is being considered to take over as Governor of the Central Bank.