7 News Belize

The Big BEL Payoff
posted (June 27, 2011)
We've already told you about the four BEL managers that were fired by outgoing CEO Lyn Young on the Friday before Government's takeover. As we reported, they were fired - so that they could get the maximum severance package - because those who resign, get less.

And we're not talking about a few thousand dollars; these were senior managers of a foreign owned company - so we'd expect them to get tens of thousands. But how about hundreds of thousands, or even millions - for the whole group of them? Well that's what it was - and Chairman Rodwell Williams discussed the multi million dollar payout today:…

Rodwell Williams
"There is material at hand which indicate that about $2.7 million dollars Belize was paid out to the former chief executive officer and the other 5 additional executive managers in addition to 2 Canadians that were posted in the T & D section of the company. They also were part of those 2.7 million dollars. What transpired if I may say so is that the then chief executive officer had resigned on the 17th of June effective the 18th and on the 17th he fired his entire frontline management. in other words decapitated the company - fired them and paid them off on the basis that he terminated them which I believe have doubts whether he was competent to terminate these people. These people of course - it was open for them to resign but if you resign of course you don't receive that kind of package when you resign. I think that was very reckless to have orchestrated that kind of action given the situation the company is in and given the fact that it appeared also to us that a few days before all the executive managers they do have company vehicles. We are in the process of verifying but they purportedly sold or transferred o BECOL a few days before the resignation and purported termination. We don't think that the then chief executive officer was competent to terminate. That would have been an authority in the board."

Jules Vasquez
"At no time did this have a resolution of the board to support it?"

Rodwell Williams
"No, this was not a board decision t no time. I went there as the then chairman to discourage them from resigning and to give them every assurance that new board if there was a new board and there was an acquisition we would wish them to continue on. They preferred to be fired. The chief executive officer himself resigns and then he purported and I say that purported to terminate the 5 other frontline managers including two Canadians. The quantum of severance will depend on whether you are fired or you quit. The fact that they did not quit, only the CEO quit but then the CEO having quit purported to them fired the entire brain force of the company. I consider that to be quite reckless and that could only have been done when you combine with the fact that they transferred their own company vehicles to the then sister company a few days before and so on. Those are reckless in my view decisions at the further prejudice of the company but of course to their own aggrandizement."

We note that 2.7 million dollar payout is 60% of the indebtedness to BELCOGEN at BSI - which is owed 5.1 million dollars….

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