| GOB in Contempt of Miami Court! |
| Thu, March 31, 2005 |
|
 The Government of Belize was today found in contempt of U.S. Federal Court.
That's the report being given to us from Miami this evening by Attorney for
ICC and Belize Telecom, Lanny Davis. He spoke to us via cell phone as he was
leaving that courtroom; here's what he had to say about the two consequential
findings by Southern Florida District Court Federal Judge, Ursula Ungaro Benages.
Lanny Davis,
[Via Phone from Miami] "The Federal District Court overruled and contradicted
the Prime Minister's statement of the 23rd of March and counsel to the Government
of Belize conceded that that statement was false; that the board was never controlled,
or could be controlled, on a 6 to 2 margin and the transaction with Lord Ashcroft
announced by the Prime Minister is invalid and that there is, at the most, a
4 to 4 board, not a 6 to 2 board announced by the Prime Minister. So we hope
that the Prime Minister will show respect to the Federal Court in Miami and
acknowledge his error in the statement that he issued. These are very dramatic
developments, which should cause the government great concern. The Federal Court
today found the Government of Belize in contempt of court in words that I can
only paraphrase but will be available to you tomorrow. The court described the
government's behavior as deliberately violating her orders and she asked Mr.
Prosser's attorneys to submit proposed financial sanctions against the government
of Belize. It is our position, and it is the court's position, that the Government
acted illegally when it seized the company and put in six directors; that is
the finding of the court. The government, I would think, would be embarrassed
by a finding that it acted lawlessly and that it is now being held in contempt
of court."
We were unable to reach Attorney General Francis Fonseca or Information
Minister Godfrey smith for comment, and the Prime Minister is out of the country.
The best we can say is that, even as it retains the law firm of Hunton and Williams
in Miami to fight its case there, the government has been consistently ignoring
the rulings of the Florida Judge. But now, after being found in contempt and
possibly having to face damages, it may not be able to continue to ignore Benages
much longer.
What we do know is that with the prospect of damages looming, government's
apparent mishandling of the BTL matter is becoming a costly succession of errors.
The first cost is the interest accruing every day on the US$57 million loan
taken from the International Bank of Miami. The second cost is the $3.5 million
loss that government had to take when it sold Michael Ashcroft a percentage
of the Carlisle Shares for a cheaper price than government had bought those
same shares from the same Ashcroft 15 months earlier. The fourth cost is the
$12 million tax write off the government had to give Michael Ashcroft to settle
his action against them in the UK.
But looking away form mounting costs, government will now have to look to
mounting embarrassment in the international investor community and pressure
from the United States government whose Federal Courts have found it in contempt.
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