Belize Bank says Central Bank order to pay $10m is unlawful

The latest episode of the missing money scandal has the Central Bank officially doing what Prime Minister Dean Barrow promised to do last week: that is demanding the return of ten million U.S. dollars from the Belize Bank. According to a press release from the Central Bank, it has issued two directives to the Belize Bank Limited. The first requires the Bank to give back to the Government of Belize the U.S. ten million transferred from a Venezuelan government owned institution for the purpose of house construction. The second seeks documentation regarding a similar sum transferred from the Taiwan government to the Belize Bank, ostensibly to improve health services. Both grants were used by the Musa administration to pay off the government guaranteed private loans of Universal Health Services and were directly transferred to the Belize Bank instead of the government’s account at the Central Bank of Belize. The release ends by pointing out that failure to comply with a Central Bank directive is a criminal offence. While the Governor of the Central Bank failed to return our phone calls, the Belize Bank late this evening issued a press release saying that it has been advised that the two directives issued by the Central Bank are quote “unlawful and void”. Obviously, this red hot issue will keep politicians and lawyers—not to mention journalists—busy for a very long time.