They are charged for playing different roles in the alleged theft of the same
20 million Belize dollars in Venezuelan grant funds – and last week was
former Prime Minister Said Musa’s turn before the magistrate for his preliminary
inquiry; this week, it was former Housing Minister Ralph Fonseca. Fonseca and
his attorneys Francis Fonseca, Dickie Bradley and Michael Peyreffite appeared
before Magistrate Earl Jones for that inquiry this morning – and the trio
went ready to do battle.
All three of his attorneys made submissions, and each went for an hour or more,
meaning that they continued well into the afternoon. They made the point that
on December 28th, 2007 when the theft is alleged to have occurred, the property
he is accused of stealing did not yet exist, and their logic was that there
was nothing to be stolen because the money did not belong to anyone at that
time And after the Fonseca attorneys spoke for close to a combined four hours,
the DPP rebutted in about fifty minutes.
The Magistrate made no immediate decision and adjourned until March third when
he will announce whether the DPP has established a prima facie case fit to go
to trial in the Supreme Court. The decision on Musa’s preliminary inquiry
is expected on February tenth.
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