And why would they do that? Well, because on Friday - we showed them what the law states. The Belize Airports Authority Act says explicitly "The Authority shall appoint a Tenders Committee from amongst the Board of Directors and all contracts above forty thousand Belize Dollars awarded by the Authority shall require the prior approval of the Minister."

These contracts were way more than that and there is no indication that a tenders committee was formed and the Prime Minister says he never approved it.

So, government may have grounds to cancel the contracts - and hopefully end the political hemorrhaging. Of course that would leave the state exposed to liability for the two companies that received those contracts. Which would end up costing taxpayers. We'll monitor it closely to see where it goes. ]]> Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=74440 Richard "Dickie" Bradley, Attorney "The procedure is that when a person is charged for a serious offense it ends up in what we call the High Court. And the word high always distracts me, but it's the High Court not the Supreme Court. So this matter has now come to the high court and the Ambassador has been basically arraigned in the High Court of the country on the allegations that were made against him."

"Following an arraignment, procedurally, the two sides, the defense and the prosecution would ensure that the, what is referred to in the lower courts as a disclosure, here we talk about a deposition that we are all on the same page in terms of what is the deposition which includes statement, exhibits, medical reports, expert reports, whatever it is so that was something that came up today as well and so our side and the prosecution will sort that out between ourselves."

"The charges are that there is one charge of a sexual assault, a charge of rape, and I think they put in an aggravated assault which normally would be dealt with at the magistrate court but rather than having a trial there that will be tried here against the accused person."

"We will return to court on I think the 24th of this month for the preliminary paperwork matters. Bail was nothing excessive, it was a signed bail for I think $10,000 or $8,000."

Though the complainant is now an adult, since she was a minor at the time of the incidents, the court sessions are closed. ]]> Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=74441 On that night, Amador, playing with Guy's pistol, accidentally shot the officer. Amador appeared yesterday afternoon before Justice Candace Nanton, and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Amador was represented by attorney Ronell Gonzalez, his sentencing date is yet to be announced. ]]> Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=74442 Now if you don't know, a source of funds declaration is a critical requirement to determine that money laundering is not happening. We are still waiting for the reply from the Ministry of Finance which has asked for an extension to June 5th.

But it has raised some questions about area rep Osmond Martinez, the former CEO for economic development which awarded the contracts to a favored contractor in the constituency. It also illustrates the complicity of the management of the Toledo Teachers Credit Union - which ignored all compliance requirements.

Jules Vasquez spoke to the general manager about it yesterday.

In the special investigation report it points to, quote, "a mysterious case of two business accounts opened at the Bella Vista Branch which belonged to a married couple. These accounts were flagged by the Compliance Officer initially because the funds deposited in the accounts were very significant and not supported by the documentation in the file." Those funds were deposited from the government treasury in an amount close to three hundred thousand dollars.

The General Manager said there was no clear source of funds - which is the biggest red flag in banking:

Leopoldo Romero, General Manager, TTCU "Yes, it came through the treasury, the source of funds were incomplete so we had to cut off business with them, we had to close the accounts and then they moved that to some other institution."

Jules Vasquez: "Monies coming through from the treasury?"

Leopoldo Romero, General Manager, TTCU "From the treasury."

Jules Vasquez "At what point did you terminate those relations? The last transaction I saw was August 2024."

Leopoldo Romero, General Manager, TTCU "Right, in August 2024 we even sent back an amount of money to the treasury because the contract was not signed, the source of funds were not proper, so the money came, we put it into payables and we sent it back to the treasury and that happened around that same time as well when we cut off business with them."

Those contracts came from the Ministry of Economic Development between February 2023 to August 2024. The current Toledo East Area Representative Osmond Martinez - where Bella Vista is the largest population center is known to have a close acquaintance with one of the principals of these companies, Jose Felipe Flores who is a prominent political supporter. Martinez is named in the report as having signed one of the contracts and says he submitted all the required contract information as a source of funds to Romero:

Jules Vasquez "So now I have spoken to Mr Martinez and he says that he met with you and he says that he sent you the contracts and he showed me a screenshot of an email showing you three contracts but what is your reaction to that?"

Leopoldo Romero, General Manager, TTCU "I met with Mr Martinez, he's a good friend of mine, we have met several times when he was a CEO and we have discussed funding from outside agents. And during that meeting, he called Belmopan and told his secretary to send me the contracts via email and up to today, I have not received those contracts so I don't think that matter is correct and if those emails or those contracts were sent to me, then where are they?"

Jules Vasquez "What Mr Martinez says, it was just a mix up, the signed contracts exist, it's just that the contractor was pushing, he was to proceed and he was submitting a contract with only one signature while they in Belmopan had the contract with the two signatures. He said it was just a mix up."

Leopoldo Romero, General Manager, TTCU "I am yet to see that because he promised to provide me with the original contracts, which up to today I don't have, even if you go through all my emails, and I was looking forward to getting those to put them in the file to prove to the regulators that we are doing our due diligence on these accounts and so if he had sent me, I would have easily printed them and put them there but if you go to those files right now, they're not there."

And this is a fundamental difference, Martinez showed us this screenshot but Romero insists he never got this email - not even in his SPAM.

But, for the credit union this is not what led to the definitive break:

Jules Vasquez "Was it unusual that these government contracts, or these government disbursements for public works would be coming without a clearly documented source of funds?"

Leopoldo Romero, General Manager, TTCU "It is very unusual and like I said in the beginning, there was collusion with the branch manager and these people."

"Our compliance officer was the one who looked at the account and saw there was false information there, if your address is Ecumenical Street in Dangriga and you are in Bella Vista, when we went to Dangriga, there is no such office. So those cemented the actions we took right after that, closed the accounts, we can't do business like this."

And that's why the TTCU walked away and left it to higher authorities:

Leopoldo Romero, General Manager, TTCU "It is an issue of the FIU and the Central Bank who investigate such situations."

Notably, the Credit Union could have faced a fine of $200,000, the minimum penalty charged to an entity for violations of Section 3 of the Money Laundering and Terrorism Prevention Act - but we are told they escaped that fine.

]]> Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=74443 Jules Vasquez "Do you think of his remarks?"

Osmond Martinez, Minister of State - Foreign Trade "Well, I think that Jesus Christ considered Judas a friend as well. And what I am seeing here is an act of a replication of Judas. You know, I don't see any act of good faith."

"I have shared with you the email that was sent to him on August 15, 2024, which we share with him the requested information. And I was sitting with him at his office when he said he has received the email."

"And if you can appreciate the email it was sent almost a year ago, which means that when it comes to the questions of source of funds, we shouldn't be having this conversation today."

Jules Vasquez "The personnel who did the special audit also did not see those contracts, right?"

"And they flagged a number of issues. But, you know, they said that the account was flagged for a lack of documentation for source of funds, mainly the building contract, right? And they added later on that at least one of the deposits was referenced to a contract with the government of Belize for the amount of $48,050 signed by Dr. Osmond Martinez. The auditor says the contract did not appropriately have sign-offs by the contractor general or government of Belize official letterhead that would confirm their legitimacy. What is your comment on that?"

Osmond Martinez, Minister of State - Foreign Trade "Well, my comment on that is that, and we will submit all the source of funds today to you, you know, as requested. And the reason why they were not submitted was because the financial secretary was out."

"Actually, he just got back today. He's working on them as we speak and you will receive them today. But, you know, there was, first of all, the contracts don't have letterhead. And the second point is that the CEOs have the authority to sign up to $50,000."

Jules Vasquez "Without it having to go to the contractor general."

Osmond Martinez, Minister of State - Foreign Trade "Without it having to go to the contractor general. So that's within the purview of the CEO. And so that didn't need any approval from contractor general."

"What I am trying to tell you here, let's focus on two things, right? It's important for us to focus on the source of funds, which will be submitted to you today. Right? And one of the things that I really hope to is to clear my name first and foremost."

"But my character is in question. It is in question because you put a story out there, being one-sided, and I have a family. I have kids. I have a name, right? I'm well-respected in my community. And then you came and you put a story promoting that corruption was there already."

"If you look at the comments on Channel 7, you know, everything is like thief, oh, he claimed himself that he's a Christian and look what he has done whatsoever. Now, let's focus on the source of the funds, which is very important."

"You will receive all the source of the funds today. And I just pray to God that you are objective in terms of providing that source of funds. So it is my hope that with the source of information that we are providing, that we can clear up any other thing because money laundering is a very serious concern, not only nationally, but internationally."

"And I am not doing money laundering. Hence, we have, and I have taken upon my shoulders, and you can confirm with the financial secretary. We have been behind him and saying, please send it."

Jules Vasquez "I accept all of that. And money laundering is serious. And shouldn't you have been aware of this before? You have a good rapport with Jose Felipe Flores. I believe you have a good line of communication if you brought him to remodel your office in Belmopan. Shouldn't you have told him, listen, I don't want to get caught up in seh, seh, seh about any money laundering business. when you file those things, make sure you file the correct one, as has been done in the past. This is irregular Mr Martinez. This is unusual. Disbursement from the government do not have proper source of funds."

Osmond Martinez, Minister of State - Foreign Trade "Isn't, but you are putting that on me, right?"

Jules Vasquez "You chose a contractor."

Osmond Martinez, Minister of State - Foreign Trade "No, but you are putting it on me, right? Um, you are taking a big responsibility from the credit union here, because..."

Jules Vasquez "The credit union failed. The credit union was running like a panades shop. That is not in question, that has been established. You who have a public reputation to guard and who is acutely aware of the status of your public reputation. Should you not have said, listen, My friend, Mr. Flores, I do things in XYZ way to avoid any. This is the basics of the law. This is the money laundering requirements. Why didn't you stringently insist to the contractor it has to be done XYZ way rather than you talk to your cousin at the credit union. Sorry."

Osmond Martinez, Minister of State - Foreign Trade "Okay. So Jules, I will answer this question and I would kindly ask you not to interrupt me. So I can explain it. Thank you."

"So we submitted the documents. As I explained to you, they went to the credit union, the credit union honor it which is on the fault of the credit union. When the credit union, the general manager called me, we submitted the full source of fund."

"That day, I had a good conversation with the contractor and I stated this to him because it is important to note that I have never, I never signed a contract with him, me, while I am a minister. It was as a CEO."

"And I said this to him. I'm a young politician. I don't want to be in anything related to corruption. All right. And I said that to him."

The source of funds documents he spoke about in there has not arrived on our email as yet. ]]> Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=74444 Jules Vasquez "It seems like this is your contractor of choice because of your close personal friendship and obviously contractors should be chosen not on their allegiance to the minister, or their allegiance to the ruling party. They should be chosen on their merit."

Osmond Martinez, Minister of State - Foreign Trade "But that's inaccurate, Jules. And, and so, for example, I have signed, I don't know how much millions of dollars as a CEO, you know, and he's not the one who got all the contracts."

"So that's an inaccurate statement that you're putting out there to the Belizean people."

Jules Vasquez "In these contracts which were flagged, it was all to these companies owned by Jose Felipe Flores. Sir, Jose Felipe Flores was at your swearing in. In that same office where you are, Jose Felipe Flores did the works. He came way from Bella Vista to do the works at your office in Belmopan. And he renovated also the restroom at the ministry here in your office."

"So obviously he is a preferred contractor. And whenever we see these arrangements, it is the natural conclusion of the man or woman on the street to say, well, obviously there is a kickback situation."

Osmond Martinez, Minister of State - Foreign Trade "But there has been more work, more work that has been done here in the ministry, you know, and you can come and see."

Jules Vasquez "Yes, but if you bring a contractor from Bella Vista to work at your office here in Belmopan, something wrong with that, that's unusual."

Osmond Martinez, Minister of State - Foreign Trade "But Jules, I want us to focus on two things here, right? Because I know you are trying to make news, but let us` focus on two things, which is the big problem, no, but wait, the source of the funds. Right. Which is, I mean, if the source of the funds are not legitimate, that's money laundering. right. So that's that's the important part. Now, you're trying to make news here, like where this person is coming at."

"He has been receiving contracts. Now, allow me, he has been receiving contracts from 2021 2022. And it is there. Right."

Jules Vasquez "This person was at the swearing in, Osmond."

Osmond Martinez, Minister of State - Foreign Trade "Yes, he was at the swearing in."

Jules Vasquez "He's a close political ally. You are giving contracts to a favorite political person. You can just say yes, it's widely done. But you have to make some concession there."

Osmond Martinez, Minister of State - Foreign Trade "No, but what I am saying is to you right, in Toledo East everybody is a PUP."

We'll have more on this story tomorrow. Martinez said he will post the entire 48 minute interview on his Facebook page. ]]> Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=74445 Voice of: Shirley Bell, Mother of Deceased "Yes I was outside on the veranda when I heard this vehicle coming under heavy speed. So I said, "man who is driving so hard" when I heard the knock, the impact. I looked up and said man someone got hurt but I saw something shine and go like that and I didn't know it was a motorcycle right and I saw when it brakes the person went up in the air and dropped so I said man who got hurt and a young man who was passing said mammy it's Steve got knocked down and then I was conscious it was my son and when me and my nephew and grandson ran out there he took his last breath and he was broken up bad."

"He was no trouble man he doesn't give any trouble, he goes fishing, any time you want to find him you go to the river side in his little dory you'll find him, if he isn't fishing when it's iguana season he is out trying to catch iguanas or bocotora to sell because he says he doesn't want anyone to be his boss, he is his own boss, he goes fishing and things like that."

As we told you last night, Heidi Chan, who was driving the vehicle, was served with an NIP. ]]> Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=74446 It lasted one whole month before it was unceremoniously painted over. You heard the reason from the new Commissioner of Police and the reaction from the artist, Raquel Rodriguez. But how does Williams feel about being erased from the police academy? Well, we met up with him today in Belmopan to get his side of this mural mess. Courtney Menzies has this story.

Now you see Chester's mural, now you don't - that was how quickly this painting of the former Commissioner of Police disappeared from one of the walls on the Training Academy's parade square. It was supposed to honor the longest serving ComPol, and while Williams said it was initially grateful, now he's just disappointed.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "To be honest I was a bit disappointed and I believe that it was something really petty to have been done. The truth is with the issue of that mural, I was not aware of the mural being placed there any at all and I was as surprised as others were on the day of the official handing over to see the mural. I was told that it was the dean, the commandant and Raquel who decided they were going to do the mural to honor me as the longest serving commissioner and for the work that I did during my tenure as commissioner."

"To have seen it just removed in the way it was done, certainly was disappointing to say the least."

But while the new Commissioner of Police explained the reason for the cover-up, Williams says he's not buying it. And while the original painting had some mistakes, Williams explains that that could've been easily fixed

Courtney Menzies: "What do you make of the explanation that it was the family members of the fallen officers who had paid for those plaques to be there and that they were upset that their family members' names were sort of erased to make space for the mural?"

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "That is not true. The plaque that bears the name of the fallen officers is there, it's the middle plaque. We don't have one plaque for one fallen police officer. If you would look at the plaque in the middle, there is sufficient space for many many more fallen officers because the plaque is for officers who were killed in the line of duty, it is not officers who would have died of natural causes or whatever the case may be. So the one that is in the middle bears a number of names and there is space to put many more names, I would hope that they wouldn't have to full that plaque."

"The cross belt or what we Sam Brown belt is on the wrong side and the medals are also on the wrong side, the medals go on the left shoulder but those were things that the artist could have corrected in like an hour, it's just a matter of painting out the medals and the Sam Brown belt and put it on the other side, so that could have been done in an hour's time. So if they used that as an explanation or an excuse for having removed the entire mural again that would make no sense."

And Williams laments that he expected better from the department he served for over 3 decades.

Courtney's Menzies "Would you hope that maybe the new commissioner and Raquel would work something out to put back the mural?"

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I would hold my breath on Raquel but I won't hold my breath on the new commissioner to do that. They can erase what they want of me, the truth be told, my record as commissioner of police will always be there and while there may not be a mural of me at the academy, it does not change who I am. When I traverse this country even now, the amount of compliments I continue to get from people, it says a lot to me, that there are many out there who do appreciate the service I gave to this country."

"While I would have expected that the department I served for so many years and reached the pinnacle of that profession that there would have been more respect given, the fact that there is none, I will not hold that against people who want to disrespect me."

"When my predecessor left office, he made a plaque that is headed "persons who have served as commissioner of police" and only his name is on it and when you all go to the office, you would see it there. As much as myself and my predecessor had diverse views and diverse issues, I never saw it in me to disrespect him that way I was disrespected. I left that thing right where he left it."

"I saw that with Hughington Williams and Zetina, they went next to blows but again, when Hughington became commissioner, Zetina did not undo what Williams did, he left it there and kept going. so this is like the first time I actually saw a commissioner undo something that was put in place for his predecessor, it's the first time. But like I said, I hold no qualms, I have respect for Mr Rosado and I have said to him when I left office that if he would ever need my help or my advise on an issue, I will be there for him."

Compol Rosado stresses that the family who donated the wall was truly upset about it being painted over.

]]> Tue, 03 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=74447 Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture "I would like to congratulate the winners of the farmers of the year competition for doing a stellar job and I encourage you to continue being resilient I must also commend the DACs district agriculture coordinators and the extension staff who worked tirelessly with these farmers. Ensuring that farmers in their district are showcased and recognised at this spectacular event."

"This event is very important an overwhelming 30 schools that participated, and I encourage the teachers and students to keep doing an excellent job in this endeavour. I am grateful that the winners of the school garden competition were able to join us today. Next year with the collaboration of the ministry of education we will be making this event even bigger and even better. Finally I must say that we will continue to support our farmers with access to climate smart inputs, credit and financing and training we will continue to invest in rural infrastructure and strengthening our digital tools we will continue to pursue new markets and diversify our production and export base, and we must ensure that environmental health and social equity are at the core of our food systems."

Special awards were given out to Senior Farmer of the Year: Gregorio Esquivel from the Corozal District. Female Farmer of the Year: Naomi Requena from the Toledo District. And Junior Farmer of the Year: Juan Carrillo from the Orange Walk District.

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