With a huge scandal starring him in the face, Prime Minister Dean Barrow today called an urgent press conference in which he responded to the claims and allegations made in a U.S. court document against him, his fellow U.D.P. parliamentarians and the Central Bank of Belize. The allegations are related to the Sanctuary Belize scam, […]
PM Barrow also responded to a statement in the claim which says that “There are other important connections between the Belizean government and S.B.E.” In the claim, allegations are also made against Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber and U.D.P. Minister Manuel Heredia Junior and Erwin Contreras. It says that Faber and Heredia reportedly communicated with […]
One of the most serious allegations made against the Barrow administration is that there was knowledge of the scam prior to the F.T.C.’s actions to halt it. According to the F.T.C., the Central Bank of Belize knew about the fraud, but did nothing. It says that in 2016, Glen Ysaguirre, the then Governor of the […]
The Central Bank of Belize is said to have been aware of the scam, but failed to act properly in the Sanctuary Belize scam. The Bank today issued a statement categorically rejecting the allegations and reaffirming its commitment to safeguard the health of the financial system and protect the pegged foreign exchange rate. It states […]
U.D.P. Senator Aldo Salazar is also named in the claim. It says that Salazar, who represented A.I.B.L., allegedly “facilitated the fraud by helping the developer wrongfully seize Sanctuary Belize lots from American victims.” The claim says that Senator Salazar accompanied A.I.B.L. C.E.O. Pelayo and bank manager, Charles Ellis, to Pukke’s California telemarketing headquarters. The documents […]
And the visibly upset Prime Minister told the media that after learning and reviewing the claim, he urgently got in contact with the U.S. Chargé d’ Affaires to make an official complaint to the U.S. statement. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “I sent first for the chargé to complain formally to him and via him […]
Before the Prime Minister’s press conference today, the F.T.C. filed an application in the U.S. District Court of Maryland for a stay of the proceedings it commenced against A.I.B.L. This, according to the Prime Minister, forms part of an agreement discussed in June. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “It wasn’t put in writing. We got back […]
Prime Minister Barrow, during his press conference this afternoon, also touched briefly on Telemedia’s G.S.T. issue. Aside from reiterating the position taken by Financial Secretary Joseph Waight that the company owes nothing to the General Sales Tax Department, the PM also confirmed that an audit is presently underway to determine whether there is legal responsibility […]
At a press conference held by the People’s United Party last Wednesday, Area Representative Kareem Musa attested to the existence of a letter in which the chairman of B.T.L.’s Board of Directors is purportedly requesting a tax waiver from the Financial Secretary. According to Musa, who is the Opposition’s Shadow Minister for Communications and Public […]
The chilling murder of a young mother in Orange Walk has shaken that northern district. The callousness with which she was killed and her little boy brutally attacked on his birthday is, to many, a tragedy out of a movie. But it’s a reality for a family that is preparing to bury their loved one […]
An employee of the Ministry of Human Development has been charged with human smuggling of four Honduran nationals, who are in Belize illegally. The employee is thirty-five-year-old Sergio Adrian Guerra. Guerra and another Belizean, forty-year-old Edwin Naj, were allegedly busted on the Crooked Tree Road on Tuesday morning. They were transporting four Honduran nationals, two […]
As you heard just now, the two men charged in connection with an alleged smuggling operation, are social worker Sergio Adrian Guerra and Edwin Naj. Both men were in vehicles transporting two adults and two minors who are undocumented Honduran nationals. Naj and Guerra appeared before the courts today where they were charged and released […]
In recent years the level of crime and violence against women and children has escalated. The recent killing of twenty-four-year-old Yanira Novelo and the attack on her four-year-old boy brought this into sharp focus, showing the need for a lot intervention at all levels. While crime has peaked and many others have lost their lives, […]
From death row to life sentence to possibility of parole, after he completes twenty-five years behind bars. That’s how the murder case concluded today for convicted prisoner, Erlin White, when he was given a fixed sentence for killing a well-known Belize City businessman. The sentence was handed down this morning by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin. […]
Back to the big story involving Sanctuary Bay, when the dust finally settles on the A.I.B.L./Sanctuary Bay fiasco, will Prime Minister Barrow set his sights on the Federal Trade Commission for dragging his name and reputation through the mud with false information? According to the PM, he will not be going after the F.T.C. and […]
Notwithstanding the Central Bank’s role as the country’s financial regulator, questions are being asked about its apparent lack of oversight in respect of the Sanctuary Bay real estate scam. When asked about the matter, Governor Joy Grant reiterated that the transaction involved Americans solely and that A.I.B.L. was not necessarily out of line in the […]
This morning, the Statistical Institute of Belize and the Inter-American Development Bank formally launched the Belize National Statistical System Portal and the S.I.B. website. The initiative comes as part of S.I.B.’s support to strengthen the country’s capacity to produce and use quality official statistics. The introduction of the portal indicates that considerable progress has been […]
The objective of the portal is to standardize and reduce the amount of effort needed to transfer data between organizations, as well as give the general public access to disseminated data that can be used to generate reports and graphs. Dr. Leopold Perriott, Director General, S.I.B. “A National Statistical System can be seen as […]
KTV, the Remix opened with a bang on Tuesday night at the Bliss and is poised to remain the hottest summer show on local television. First on stage was Marlyn Vansen, the new judge, who did not disappoint with her opening number comprising a medley and a rendition of Selena’s ‘Como La Flor.’ The team […]
A timely forum is taking place today. It is offering relevant information to the authorities on how to detect and protect children who are being abused. According to a report, over a thousand children are experiencing some form of abuse and neglect; most of them are girls who are being sexually exploited at a tender […]
