Tonight there is very little new information on the criminal investigation into the Won Hong Kim/Elvin Penner passport scandal. Penner, the former Minister of State with responsibility for immigration, has been fingered by nationality officers who say he pushed Kim’s nationality certificate through without supporting documentation. Penner also signed Kim’s nationality certificate and signed as recommender for a Belizean passport for Kim. Kim, a South Korean national, has never been to Belize. Quite shockingly, News Five has confirmed that Penner has still not been called in for questioning, and the only place he’s been seen recently is on FB sipping Mexican beers. Exactly one week ago Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl-Lynn Vidal issued specific directives to CIB detectives investigating the Won Hong Kim/Elvin Penner passport scandal. There are two charges being considered under Section one seventy-eight of the Criminal Code, both of which are indictable and neither of which is subject to a period of limitations. It is anticipated that investigators will meet with the Director of Public Prosecutions early next week for a progress report to determine the way forward where Mr. Penner is concerned.Sunday, 16 March 2014
Still no evidence in investigation into the Won Hong Kim/Elvin Penner passport scandal
Tonight there is very little new information on the criminal investigation into the Won Hong Kim/Elvin Penner passport scandal. Penner, the former Minister of State with responsibility for immigration, has been fingered by nationality officers who say he pushed Kim’s nationality certificate through without supporting documentation. Penner also signed Kim’s nationality certificate and signed as recommender for a Belizean passport for Kim. Kim, a South Korean national, has never been to Belize. Quite shockingly, News Five has confirmed that Penner has still not been called in for questioning, and the only place he’s been seen recently is on FB sipping Mexican beers. Exactly one week ago Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl-Lynn Vidal issued specific directives to CIB detectives investigating the Won Hong Kim/Elvin Penner passport scandal. There are two charges being considered under Section one seventy-eight of the Criminal Code, both of which are indictable and neither of which is subject to a period of limitations. It is anticipated that investigators will meet with the Director of Public Prosecutions early next week for a progress report to determine the way forward where Mr. Penner is concerned.
Court of Appeal orders a retrial for Viola Pook accused of setting husband on fire
VIOLA POOK
But earlier today, a number of decisions were handed down by the Court of Appeal to conclude its first session for this year. It ended with good news for fifty-six year old Viola Pook, who was initially convicted and sentenced to life prison back in July 2011 for the murder of her common-law-husband Orlando Vasquez. The court ordered that Pook is to stand trial for a second time after it declared her conviction null and void. Vasquez was set on fire inside his home in Rancho Dolores Village on New Year’s Eve in 2008. In the aftermath of the grisly incident, police were summoned to the residence where Vasquez was discovered lying face up inside the singed kitchen. Over ninety percent of his body was badly burned. He was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Pook case attracted public attention when Nation of Islam Leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, singled out her case because she is believed to have been a victim of domestic abuse. But back in 2011, Justice Herbert Lord handed down an initial decision which was successfully challenged by Senior Counsel Simeon Sampson at the appellate level. Sampson argued that the investigating officer, Sergeant Aaron Zuniga, failed to satisfy the judge prior to admitting into evidence a verbal confession made by Pook. While Sampson made a case for an acquittal, he says he’s satisfied that Pook will be retried in the Supreme Court.
Simeon Sampson, Attorney for Viola Pook
SIMEON SAMPSON
“The matter was decided this morning you know. We argued that about six months ago. Viola Pook came to me on appeal. She was defended in the first instance by another attorney. So then came the Court of Appeal hearing and I argued that the evidence against Viola Pook was one incriminating sentence, “Dah me ketch ahn fyah.” No other evidence. And Sergeant Zuniga, the investigating officer, arriving upon the scene that day when the [incident occurred] saw the husband of Pook writhing in ninety percent burns and so on and so forth. This lady said absolutely nothing and when Sergeant Zuniga went to her, after doing his investigation and asked her, “Dah weh happen?” Well the lady said, according to her, she remained silent. But Sergeant Zuniga said that she blurted out, “Dah me ketch ahn fyah.” Situation like those trigger principles of law whether she was warned because I argued that the policeman ought to have cautioned her because he was reasonably on the evidence, he was investigating and when he approached her, “Dah weh happen?” That was an accusatorial question and without any caution, as he ought to have done, I argued that the judge ought to have excluded that statement, “Da me ketch ahn fyah.” Absent that statement there would have been no evidence at all, at all, at all for the judge to direct the jury to consider her as the person who burned her husband. But another point of law which is very important. The judge went on to give the jury a funny, funny, funny direction on identification. Nobody identified the perpetrator of the person who burnt this person and the judge unfortunately went on to give a direction on identification evidence. Viola Pook was never identified as the perpetrator and I think that is what carried the day for Viola Pook and the Court of Appeal said, well look she, consequentially, did not get a fair trial and they quashed the conviction, set aside the sentence of life and they ordered a retrial.”
Raylene Dyer Was Decapitated; Alleged Killers Get Off, Her Family Enraged
Original Story:http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=28166
In October of 2010, one of the most shocking murder stories we've ever reported on made national headlines: 18 year-old Raylene Dyer was allegedly decapitated and dumped in a river, so that her 3 month old baby could be stolen and given to another woman - who masterminded the crime. 3 men were accused of killing her but on Wednesday they were acquitted before Justice Denis Hanomansingh.The main evidence against all 3 men were that they confessed to the crime, and supposedly gave police intimate details as to how they killed Dyer, slit her throat, chopped off her head, and dumped her body into a river near a slaughterhouse in Valley of Peace in October 2010.
But, the accused claimed that police obtained those confession statements by force. They say that they only gave the caution statements because the police brutalized them into it.
Because the officers could not convince the court that they followed procedure when handling the written confessions, those statements were thrown out, and Justice Hanomansingh directed the Jury on Wednesday to return a formal verdict of not guilty. With that, Darren Banner, Jason Anderson, and Brandon Budna were able to walk out of court free men after being on remand for more than 3 years. Now, the alleged mastermind Aracely Cahueque is the only one who stands accused.Today, 7News caught up with Dyer's family to get a reaction to the outcome. Daniel Ortiz found out that the family didn't expect an acquittal. Here's his story:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
Rayven Dyer is beautiful and intelligent child, very self-aware, and charming. Her aunt, who is now her guardian, has made a huge effort to shield her from the effects of the violence, which claimed her mother's life. It's hard to believe that this baby was the centerpiece of a plot which saw her mother violently killed so that she could be abducted as an infant.
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Hi."
Reporter
"What's your name?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Reyven."
Reporter
"And you are going to school?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Yes."
Reporter
"Which school you are going to?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Kiddies Campus."
Reporter
"And how old are you?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Three."
Reporter
"Wow, what do you like to do in school?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Running and hopping."
Reporter
"What else?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"My mom likes to jump over the gates."
The 3 men, Darren Banner, Jason Anderson, and Brandon Budna who were accused of slitting Raylene's throat, cutting off her head and dumping her body into the river, were acquitted in the Belmopan Supreme Court on Wednesday. That was a shock to Raylene's family who were looking to this trial as a doorway to closure.?
Indira Cayetano - Sister of Deceased
"We were very disappointed, but like my mom said she doesn't know why she setup herself and had hope that our judiciary system would have worked. At first I was really angry, I was mad and then I spent some time trying to pray, because it's kind of hard to pray when you are going through a disappointing time, but with good people around me like my co-workers I started to feel positive again and I said you know what God is the ultimate judge, he doesn't sleep and he sees everything."
But it can't be forgotten that Raylene was torn out of her family's life. Her daughter has never had the joy of knowing her mother. She only has pictures and memories that the adults share with her.
Indira Cayetano - Sister of Deceased
"My niece has been the best thing that has happened to us within all the pain, with all the hurt. She is so happy; she is like the real legacy that anybody would have asked for. With her in our lives it takes our mind from some of the hurt because it hurts me when I see my mom paining and I can't do anything. When my mom starts to suffer with enlarge heart and high blood pressure and she is so sick and nervous, like just the impact of losing a child and never put closure, it had a great impact on her and nobody knows the true story except her."
"She is small, it was only two days since she turned 3 months when they had stolen her and we haven't really told her. The only time she saw Raylene like that - the time when we put her memorial picture on Love FM and she said that's my Raylene Dyer and she know Raylene is her mom but she doesn't have the understanding of death as a baby. As she gets older then we will tell her some more."
Daniel Ortiz
"Do you guys dread that conversation?"
Indira Cayetano - Sister of Deceased
"We won't dread that conversation because I feel strong enough as a God fearing person he will give us the words to say to her."
Alleged mastermind Aracely Cahueque, is currently now on trial before Justice Hanomansingh in which a new jury has been empaneled to hear her case. She is being tried alone for abetment to commit murder. Her attorney is Dickie Bradley. Since the confession statements of the men have been thrown out, Bradley wants Justice Hanomansingh to refuse to admit them as evidence against Cahueque. Her trial continues on Monday, and we'll keep following it.
But, the accused claimed that police obtained those confession statements by force. They say that they only gave the caution statements because the police brutalized them into it.
Because the officers could not convince the court that they followed procedure when handling the written confessions, those statements were thrown out, and Justice Hanomansingh directed the Jury on Wednesday to return a formal verdict of not guilty. With that, Darren Banner, Jason Anderson, and Brandon Budna were able to walk out of court free men after being on remand for more than 3 years. Now, the alleged mastermind Aracely Cahueque is the only one who stands accused.Today, 7News caught up with Dyer's family to get a reaction to the outcome. Daniel Ortiz found out that the family didn't expect an acquittal. Here's his story:Daniel Ortiz reporting
Rayven Dyer is beautiful and intelligent child, very self-aware, and charming. Her aunt, who is now her guardian, has made a huge effort to shield her from the effects of the violence, which claimed her mother's life. It's hard to believe that this baby was the centerpiece of a plot which saw her mother violently killed so that she could be abducted as an infant.
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Hi."
Reporter
"What's your name?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Reyven."Reporter
"And you are going to school?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Yes."
Reporter
"Which school you are going to?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Kiddies Campus."
Reporter
"And how old are you?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Three."
Reporter
"Wow, what do you like to do in school?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"Running and hopping."
Reporter
"What else?"
Reyven Dyer - 3 years old
"My mom likes to jump over the gates."
The 3 men, Darren Banner, Jason Anderson, and Brandon Budna who were accused of slitting Raylene's throat, cutting off her head and dumping her body into the river, were acquitted in the Belmopan Supreme Court on Wednesday. That was a shock to Raylene's family who were looking to this trial as a doorway to closure.?Indira Cayetano - Sister of Deceased
"We were very disappointed, but like my mom said she doesn't know why she setup herself and had hope that our judiciary system would have worked. At first I was really angry, I was mad and then I spent some time trying to pray, because it's kind of hard to pray when you are going through a disappointing time, but with good people around me like my co-workers I started to feel positive again and I said you know what God is the ultimate judge, he doesn't sleep and he sees everything."
But it can't be forgotten that Raylene was torn out of her family's life. Her daughter has never had the joy of knowing her mother. She only has pictures and memories that the adults share with her.
Indira Cayetano - Sister of Deceased
"My niece has been the best thing that has happened to us within all the pain, with all the hurt. She is so happy; she is like the real legacy that anybody would have asked for. With her in our lives it takes our mind from some of the hurt because it hurts me when I see my mom paining and I can't do anything. When my mom starts to suffer with enlarge heart and high blood pressure and she is so sick and nervous, like just the impact of losing a child and never put closure, it had a great impact on her and nobody knows the true story except her.""She is small, it was only two days since she turned 3 months when they had stolen her and we haven't really told her. The only time she saw Raylene like that - the time when we put her memorial picture on Love FM and she said that's my Raylene Dyer and she know Raylene is her mom but she doesn't have the understanding of death as a baby. As she gets older then we will tell her some more."
Daniel Ortiz
"Do you guys dread that conversation?"
Indira Cayetano - Sister of Deceased
"We won't dread that conversation because I feel strong enough as a God fearing person he will give us the words to say to her."
Alleged mastermind Aracely Cahueque, is currently now on trial before Justice Hanomansingh in which a new jury has been empaneled to hear her case. She is being tried alone for abetment to commit murder. Her attorney is Dickie Bradley. Since the confession statements of the men have been thrown out, Bradley wants Justice Hanomansingh to refuse to admit them as evidence against Cahueque. Her trial continues on Monday, and we'll keep following it.
EDITORIAL BY BNN ON RALPH HUANG
Recently in our small Central American Country of Belize,
one of the local elections has been getting some international attention. So we
at the Belize News Network, BNN, have decided to take a look at this and see
what is going on in the Jewel of the Caribbean.
Recently the United Democratic Party, currently the party in
power in Belize and one of the 2 major parties, has held their convention to
elect Standard Bearers for their party and to plan for the upcoming federal
election in less than 4 years.
One of the constituencies is Cayo South which begins at
Esperanza and runs east to St Matthews and north to Valley of Peace and south
to Armenia. One of the largest constituencies in Belize.
3 candidates were running to see who would be the representative
for the UDP in Cayo South. Among these candidates was Ralph Huang, a longtime
resident of Georgeville which is in Cayo South. Reported as one of the largest
turnouts ever for the convention, Huang proved victorious getting over 60
percent of the votes.
This seems to have stirred up some issues with some of the
people in Belize. Accusations on social media have run amuck. One of the main
issues that keeps popping up is Huangs association with a Lord Neil Gibson.
Huang admits to campaign contributions from Gibson in an
interview with one of the Belizean media outlets. Somehow this transparency is being taken as a
bad thing in Belize. While it is not required by law for politicians to
disclose campaign contribution, Huang has taken the high road and chose to keep
everything out in the open with his constituents.
After careful scrutiny, BNN has determined that the majority
of these accusations being made against Huang and Gibson are coming from PUP
supporters and media. Channel 5 News is owned and loyal to the PUP, Peoples
United Party, and most of the political news that comes from that station is
one sided and skewed in favor of the PUP.
Another propaganda machine for the PUP is the so called
BELIZE TIMES @ http://www.belizetimes.bz.
This so called media outlet masquerades as a genuine online newspaper but is
obviously a propaganda machine. Propaganda was heavily used by Adolf Hitler and
the Nazis during the Second World War and proved very effective in brain
washing an entire country.
It has surface that one of the reasons for the unprecedented
attack on Huang is that the PUP now feels threatened in that constituency.
Huang has been touted as the one that can unseat the elected PUP rep, Julias
Espat and that he is the one behind these attacks and is trying to discredit
Huang before he has a chance to run in the federal election.
Some of the comments made on the articles by the so called
media in Belize also give us a clue to the motivation behind these unfounded
accusation.
The following was posted on the Love FM radio News Site
regarding and article on Huang and Gibson which shows a level of
misunderstanding and even go as far as being racist. Comments and opinion like
this should be disregarded and do more harm to the beautiful people of Belize
than they do good.
http://lovefm.com/huang-and-gibson-go-viral-on-the-www
|
Rass Farri, please do not be so naive for
your sake, your children’s sake and your descendants sake. I agree with Kaila
on so many levels. Yes, we need to redeem ourselves and fast. First off,
“Lord” should not be on this man’s name, this was an addition made by him.
The moment you open up your country to foreigners (Gibson and Huang) you are
playing with disaster.
Belizeans are seeking someone to come in and do what Huang did. He was smart and started even before the campaign, showing Belizeans what he thought they wanted to see and hear. Belizeans are dealing with two educated professional scammers and they need to step up and speak on it now before it is too late. Before it is too late, well what do I mean about that? Belizeans are currently #1 citizens, meaning we come first. It is a mixed group of beautiful people, however, we all know that races such as Asian and Turkish individuals are there in Belize for a reason and that reason is not for politics. Let’s be honest, will he be of best interest to us when making decisions for Cayo? Not only is he associated with Gibson but he is associated UDP (Barrow). Think ahead, what would Gibson want with Belize? Investment for what? The day GIBSON, his fake wife and Huang believe that they will “take over Belize” will be the day, they realize that Belize people are UNITED and will use any means necessary to prevent that. Rass Farri, stay united with your fellow Belizeans. This is what Belizeans do. If our Government won’t protect us, then we need to play our part and listen to each other. We can’t be separated based on a few gifts we get from foreigners such as Gibson and Huang (Immigration scam..Look into it Rass Farri). Nothing against you Rass Farri, but if Belizeans are noticing after the fact they made a mistake, listen and jump on board and protect OUR COUNTRY. NEVER go against your own to defend foreigners. Don’t be that naïve and do your research for yourself. Gibson helped Huang and now he is claiming Belize on some fake looking, gut-wrenching videos, the fake website they are putting online to scam people pretending to be Belize Channel five news. That will give us a bad name to foreigners. Would you like to end up being hated by multiple countries…I tell you now, we don’t want war that this EVIL man is trying to bring on us, and we already have our own problems. Don’t you think Huang have a debt to Gibson now? His loyalty is to Gibson not us BELIZEANS Additionally, did your know that they offered and paid each resident for their votes Rass F? Rass F I hope you weren’t apart of this because that was short term benefits, what about the long term..? He is building roads? Building roads for what? To go where? To transport what? They are laughing at us for being so naïve and we are just bending over mentally to get F*cked enah wi asshole. Be careful, slavery all over again for our descendants. This is how all foreigners approach a foreign land. They come with kindness, Ross F are you aware of our history of slavery, not just Belizeans but all people of color around the world. Kaila, I will continue to protest about this online as much as I can, we need to inform Belizeans everywhere of what is going on. I hope you do the same. We will not sit and watch this happen. Rass F I hope you do your research, listen and stay united with your people. Do not get upset with me for what I am writing but Do your research and prove me wrong if you have slaved yourself to Huang and Gibson. |
Our opinion at the BNN is that Huang was chosen by the
people of Cayo South after a long hard campaign. The people have spoken and all
the attention that Huang is getting only indicates to everyone that he is a
threat to the PUP. Until there is hard evidence on any of the speculation and
conjecture, Huang is simply the new Standard Bearer for the UDP of Cayo South.
Now let’s see what he can do for his constituency.
Friday, 14 March 2014
More on John McAfee and Belize with Alex Jones
This video interview with John Mcafee and Alex Jones reveals some revelations on corporate spying via your smart phones. McAfee announces that he will soon release a free application that will tell you what your applications are sending with regards to information that you are not aware of. This is a must watch. McAfee also covers the escapades between himself and the Government of Belize.
Thursday, 13 March 2014
John Macafee passes a message on to His Associates in Belize
It seems the Infamous John McAfee still has a bone to pick with some of his associates in Belize. This Video was released earlier this week as a personal message. You be the Judge!!
Video Link:
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Video Link:
Hot and dry today; but rain on the way
The Mopan River
(Bullet Tree Falls village)
(Bullet Tree Falls village)
PATRICK E. JONES Reporting: It is another hot day in beautiful Belize, as fair and mostly dry conditions will push the heat level to the high end of the thermometer. But rain is on the way as a weak cold front approaches the country.
The general forecast for Belize and her coastal waters is for sunny skies with cloudy spells. Then the change will come this afternoon with an increase in showers and isolated thunderstorms starting over inland areas and then spreading southward tonight.
Winds are easterly to southeasterly at 5 to 15 knots. The sea state is choppy.
High temperatures today will be around 90 degrees Fahrenheit along coastal areas; 95 degrees Fahrenheit inland and a cool 78 degrees Fahrenheit up in the hills.
Low temperatures tonight will fall to 7- degrees Fahrenheit along the coast; 68 degrees Fahrenheit inland and a cool 60 degrees Fahrenheit up in the hills.
There will be a low tide at 1:32 this afternoon. A high tide will occur at 7:36 tonight. The sun will set at 6:02 this evening and rise again 12 hours later at 6:02 am on Thursday.
The extended forecast, valid through to Friday is for cloudy skies at times with a few showers and isolated thunderstorms mainly over the south on Thursday night.
And that is a look at the weather, with information provided by forecaster Francisca Wellington at the Belize Weather Bureau.
Pharmacy Association lashes out at MOH on appointment of the daughter of Minister Erwin Contreras
Political connections and lucrative appointments – that’s always been commonplace in Belize, almost as traditional as rice and beans. But that doesn’t make the pill any easier to swallow. Today, the Ministry of Health is in hot water after the announcement of a new Director of Drug Inspectorate, who just happens to be the daughter of U.D.P. Minister Erwin Contreras. That in itself isn’t necessarily big news, but the Pharmacists’ Association of Belize is fired up at M.O.H. because they claim the new director is completely under-qualified and proper appointment guidelines were ignored. To add insult to injury, the Association only learned about the appointment last week through the media. Mike Rudon has the story.
Mike Rudon, Reporting
The Pharmacists Association of Belize has issued a fiery release accusing the Ministry of Health of making a mockery of their profession. The problem is the new Director of Drug Inspectorate, responsible for monitoring pharmacists, suppliers and controlled drugs to ensure that all is in order, and all are in compliance with the laws of Belize. They say the new Director, Danini Contreras, is not qualified for the post.
HORTENCE HUMES
Hortence Humes, President, Pharmacists’ Association of Belize
“To be a drug inspector you have to be a registered pharmacist, have five years working experience, specialized training in drug inspection and an Associate’s or a diploma in pharmacy.”
Reporter
“So where are those standards from?”
Hortence Humes
“When the post was created those were the qualifications that were required of a drug inspector.”
DANINI CONTRERAS
Reporter
“And Ms. Contreras does not have those qualifications?”
Hortence Humes
“She’s not a registered pharmacist. We know that she has a Bachelor’s in Science and in Chemical Pharmaceuticals…”
Reporter
“So what should she have? Why are you saying she is not qualified for this post? Just because she is not registered as a pharmacist..?”
Hortence Humes
“The drug inspector also has to be familiar with the pharmacy structure of the country and with no working experience, not knowing what is happening in the industry in the country, we feel that she is not qualified to be that.”
The Association is not upset at the creation of the post, and in fact have advocated for that post and the strengthening of laws to give that department teeth. But they are concerned at the lack of proper process behind the appointment, complicated by the political connections.
MARISOL MELHADO
Marisol Melhado, Vice President, Pharmacists’ Association of Belize
“This person not being qualified…there’s a way around that. The person can get training…fine. But the fact that the person has no working experience and has no knowledge of the status quo of Belize in terms of what is actually happening…the fact that the person is very politically tied gives us that sense of what are you going to actually be looking at…are you going to be subjected to just looking at what you need to look at, or at everything. And that’s where it hurts us to think that it might just be a person that is groomed to be a rubber stamp. That’s not our intention by any means.”
The Association is angry because there are qualified and registered pharmacists who have been bypassed by what they call the back-door and under the radar appointment of Contreras.
Hortence Humes
“We have our schools of pharmacy and we have been graduating pharmacy students every year, and they have been getting their licenses to be registered pharmacists. At the moment we have pharmacists out there who are qualified and cannot find a job. They are working at Ready Call and these are pharmacists…qualified, registered pharmacists and cannot find a job and we have been advocating for posts to be created within the Ministry because there is the need for a drug inspector and a director of the drug inspectorate…that is a whole new need within the Ministry of Health and we have been advocating for that. So to say that there aren’t qualified persons there…I don’t believe that.”
Marisol Melhado
“We have set our demands to rectify the situation. Even if there is a progress in sessions on how to rectify it we are willing to discuss this. But we want for the Ministry of Health to recognize the profession first of all and know that whenever you do things there are consequences to them and we are prepared to go all the way.”
As we told you, the Association only learned of the creation of the post and the appointment of Contreras through a report in the news last week. Mike Rudon for News Five.
Laura Esquivel Frampton officially resigns as Director of Tourism
Mar 12, 2014
Via Phone: Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Tourism
LAURA ESQUIVEL-FRAMPTON
Director of Tourism Laura Esquivel-Frampton has officially demitted office, following a two-year stint as head of the Belize Tourism Board. Her resignation from the post was formally confirmed via press release earlier today because on Wednesday night, we told you that she was on her way out from the lucrative job. Esquivel-Frampton’s tenure has been mired in controversy. Last week, a letter was sent to Minister of Tourism Manuel Heredia signed by seven members of B.T.B.’s executive management team. Contained in that document are a number of issues pertaining to her management style which are described as both manipulative and egotistical. While Heredia says the letter never made it to his desk, he admitted to being aware of the problems and that he had met with both parties on separate occasions to address their discontent. B.T.B.’s G-Seven blasted her for failure to display the necessary leadership, honesty, transparency and integrity during the budget process. The sharp criticism has raised concerns of financial mismanagement and acute cash flow issues. But the release sent out today by the B.T.B. says Esquivel-Frampton resigned for personal reasons and she was credited for bringing her business acumen from the financial and marketing sectors to the organization. The minister spoke today to News Five of the turmoil at the oversight body for one of the biggest industries in the country.
Via Phone: Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Tourism
“I met with heads [of department] and I met with the director and at the end of the day the director had something better that was offered and decided that she would rather go and tender her resignation and find a better environment to work and I have accepted the resignation. There is at no time is there anything that could be said that the director misused the funds of B.T.B. while she was there. I think you all know that B.T.B. is an institution that has excelled and has made this industry grow a lot and I have nothing but to appreciate what the director has done, in particular and personally I wish her the best in her new endeavor and whatever I can do to help her now or in the future I am more than willing to do so.”
MANUEL HEREDIA JR.
Isani Cayetano
“Minister were you in receipt of the letter that was presented or put together by the group of seven heads of department at B.T.B.?”
Via Phone: Manuel Heredia Jr.
“I will be very honest, I do not know of any such letter. If there is a letter that I understand that was in the media that is news to me. Everything that was done was verbal so all that I can say is that if the media has a hold of something like that it might be mischief on the part of someone. But I am not aware of anything like that and the content of that letter. Like I said, I barely have time to watch the news so ninety-nine percent of the time I will not see the news because I have things [that are] more important to do that has to deal with the ministries. I think you know I have three ministries and I am one of those ministers that like to be on top of my ministry. Whenever there are problems I like to address it as soon as possible with the least possible consequence, you know, and I think I manage to do that quite well.”
A New Lord for Belize?
By Louis Wade
His name appeared almost as a blip on Channel 5 News in July of 2013: Lord Neil B Gibson, of LNBG, LLC.
But after the win of the now UDP standard bearer for Cayo South, Ralph Huang, the name is back in the public domain, and with a vengeance.
Interestingly though, few mainstream media have picked up the story this time. It is social media that is abuzz with discussion and ‘evidence’ about the ‘partnership’ that this Lord Neil B Gibson claims he has with Minister of Trade and Investment, Hon Erwin Contreras, and Standard Bearer, Ralph Huang.
In an interview with LoveTV, RALPH HUANG told the reporter: “Yes, I do know the man and he is a very wonderful person, and he is my friend, and we do have business together abroad.”
In January of 2012, Lord Gibson announced that Ralph Huang had teamed up with First Interstate Group, and Lord Neil B. Gibson for a 40-acre parcel of land valued at approximately $700,000.00USD along the Western Highway to be donated to a “tropical storm resilient” housing project. In January of last year, 2013, Gibson announced that his Belize Energy Company plans to introduce ultra clean energy independence to the country of Belize with a proposed 20 megawatt base load electricity utilizing Hydrogen Fuel Cells”; a partnership between Handel’s Securities and the DayDra Holdings Group.
The first red flag is that a local politician has also admitted that Lord Gibson, a foreign investor, contributed to his campaign. An honest admission, but it is also very telling, even though Huang claims Gibson expects nothing in return. A pre-election release from the Company stated: “Our business organizations would honourably like to declare our political and financial support of Mr. Ralph Huang’s candidacy for the position of Standard Bearer in Cayo South”.
It appears that the company sees Huang’s win as beneficial to its interests in Belize:
“Our organizations have had ample opportunities in the last 5-years to analyze our future economic benefits and objectives of the various economic executions into the country of Belize. We have found Ralph’s honest insight and practical approach for future country growth, with our country’s desire to invest into Belize.” It further states that Huang’s qualities “ensure our organizations future commitment to execute our organizations’ [intent] to invest into the country of Belize.”
To give an endorsement AND financial contribution on the premise that a candidate’s win is beneficial to that company’s investments is indeed questionable.
The second red flag is without doubt, the status of LNBG, LLC, Lord Gibson’s flagship company, which, according to The Central Bank of Belize, “… is not licensed to provide banking and/or financial business in or from within Belize”.
This in a letter to journalist, Jose Sanchez, who requested information from the Central Bank regarding the status of LNBG LLC and their website named www.centralbankofbelize.com. This “fake” Central Bank website seems to focus exclusively on attempting to clear Lord Neil B. Gibson and Handel’s Security. We also discovered a fake Channel 5 website which mirrors the fake Central Bank website.
Channel 5 had run a story last year which says, “Lord Gibson is a fraud, and he is using the fantasy idea to develop a website with videos and articles to fool potential investors into swindling their money.”
The Central Bank warning is very clear. Since 13 February, 2013, Handels Securities “…is not licensed to provide banking and/or financial business in or from within Belize. This warning is still in place.”
Yet, a letter has surfaced purportedly signed by Minister of Trade, Hon. Erwin Contreras and sent to Lord Gibson, dated March 24, 2013, countering the warnings. It states:
“We did a separate investigation into allegations made against Handel’s Securities Ltd and found them all to be false claims. I personally sat with the chairman of the Central Bank of Belize and Mr Gibson, and we were told by the Chairman that the Central Bank was investigating Handel’s Bank & Trust Co Ltd., an international bank licensed in Belize, for alleged wrong doing, not Handel’s Securities.”
Note that, according to the letter, the meeting was held, NOT with the Governor of the Central Bank, but with the Chairman. Was it the Ministry of Trade that did a separate investigation from the Central Bank?
Red Flag number three is that the official website of Lord Neil B Gibson states “that the partnership has been working closely with the Honourable Erwin Rafael Contreras, (Minister of) Trade Investment, Private Sector Development and Consumer Protection.” In fact only 2 months ago, Lord Gibson rolled out another huge plan for Belize; complete with the claim of another Minister Contreras endorsement.
“The Government and I are in full support of LNBG, LLC in their vision and efforts to help build new state of the art medical centres in different areas of Belize.”
Too many rolling endorsements with precious little on the ground to validate the claims, yet a bold move to enter Belize’s electoral process and political landscape. This is not a comfortable scenario.
Red Flag four is a video introducing the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electrical generation Plant for Belize which refers to Ralph Huang as “Deputy Minister of Trade, under Minister Erwin Contreras”. To claim such a close relationship between Huang and Lord Gibson and still not know that Huang could not be a Deputy Minister? Or are we missing something?
The questions are many, clarifications are without a doubt, missing. When LoveTV asked Huang, “Do you know if he is assisting any other ministers or any other standard bearers or any potential standard bearers?” RALPH HUANG responded, “No comments; no comments on that topic there.”
After Wednesday’s PAC meeting, PlusNews waited for Hon. Contreras to find out if he could either validate or refute Lord Gibson’s claims. Mr. Contreras was asked a number of questions about his relationship, if any, with Lord Gibson, including the “Deputy Huang” title, but Hon. Contreras only said, “No comment”.
Final Red Flag… There are too many “no comments”. It’s time for Officials to speak and clarify what is going on here.
But after the win of the now UDP standard bearer for Cayo South, Ralph Huang, the name is back in the public domain, and with a vengeance.
Interestingly though, few mainstream media have picked up the story this time. It is social media that is abuzz with discussion and ‘evidence’ about the ‘partnership’ that this Lord Neil B Gibson claims he has with Minister of Trade and Investment, Hon Erwin Contreras, and Standard Bearer, Ralph Huang.
In an interview with LoveTV, RALPH HUANG told the reporter: “Yes, I do know the man and he is a very wonderful person, and he is my friend, and we do have business together abroad.”
In January of 2012, Lord Gibson announced that Ralph Huang had teamed up with First Interstate Group, and Lord Neil B. Gibson for a 40-acre parcel of land valued at approximately $700,000.00USD along the Western Highway to be donated to a “tropical storm resilient” housing project. In January of last year, 2013, Gibson announced that his Belize Energy Company plans to introduce ultra clean energy independence to the country of Belize with a proposed 20 megawatt base load electricity utilizing Hydrogen Fuel Cells”; a partnership between Handel’s Securities and the DayDra Holdings Group.
The first red flag is that a local politician has also admitted that Lord Gibson, a foreign investor, contributed to his campaign. An honest admission, but it is also very telling, even though Huang claims Gibson expects nothing in return. A pre-election release from the Company stated: “Our business organizations would honourably like to declare our political and financial support of Mr. Ralph Huang’s candidacy for the position of Standard Bearer in Cayo South”.
It appears that the company sees Huang’s win as beneficial to its interests in Belize:
“Our organizations have had ample opportunities in the last 5-years to analyze our future economic benefits and objectives of the various economic executions into the country of Belize. We have found Ralph’s honest insight and practical approach for future country growth, with our country’s desire to invest into Belize.” It further states that Huang’s qualities “ensure our organizations future commitment to execute our organizations’ [intent] to invest into the country of Belize.”
To give an endorsement AND financial contribution on the premise that a candidate’s win is beneficial to that company’s investments is indeed questionable.
The second red flag is without doubt, the status of LNBG, LLC, Lord Gibson’s flagship company, which, according to The Central Bank of Belize, “… is not licensed to provide banking and/or financial business in or from within Belize”.
This in a letter to journalist, Jose Sanchez, who requested information from the Central Bank regarding the status of LNBG LLC and their website named www.centralbankofbelize.com. This “fake” Central Bank website seems to focus exclusively on attempting to clear Lord Neil B. Gibson and Handel’s Security. We also discovered a fake Channel 5 website which mirrors the fake Central Bank website.
Channel 5 had run a story last year which says, “Lord Gibson is a fraud, and he is using the fantasy idea to develop a website with videos and articles to fool potential investors into swindling their money.”
The Central Bank warning is very clear. Since 13 February, 2013, Handels Securities “…is not licensed to provide banking and/or financial business in or from within Belize. This warning is still in place.”
Yet, a letter has surfaced purportedly signed by Minister of Trade, Hon. Erwin Contreras and sent to Lord Gibson, dated March 24, 2013, countering the warnings. It states:
“We did a separate investigation into allegations made against Handel’s Securities Ltd and found them all to be false claims. I personally sat with the chairman of the Central Bank of Belize and Mr Gibson, and we were told by the Chairman that the Central Bank was investigating Handel’s Bank & Trust Co Ltd., an international bank licensed in Belize, for alleged wrong doing, not Handel’s Securities.”
Note that, according to the letter, the meeting was held, NOT with the Governor of the Central Bank, but with the Chairman. Was it the Ministry of Trade that did a separate investigation from the Central Bank?
Red Flag number three is that the official website of Lord Neil B Gibson states “that the partnership has been working closely with the Honourable Erwin Rafael Contreras, (Minister of) Trade Investment, Private Sector Development and Consumer Protection.” In fact only 2 months ago, Lord Gibson rolled out another huge plan for Belize; complete with the claim of another Minister Contreras endorsement.
“The Government and I are in full support of LNBG, LLC in their vision and efforts to help build new state of the art medical centres in different areas of Belize.”
Too many rolling endorsements with precious little on the ground to validate the claims, yet a bold move to enter Belize’s electoral process and political landscape. This is not a comfortable scenario.
Red Flag four is a video introducing the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electrical generation Plant for Belize which refers to Ralph Huang as “Deputy Minister of Trade, under Minister Erwin Contreras”. To claim such a close relationship between Huang and Lord Gibson and still not know that Huang could not be a Deputy Minister? Or are we missing something?
The questions are many, clarifications are without a doubt, missing. When LoveTV asked Huang, “Do you know if he is assisting any other ministers or any other standard bearers or any potential standard bearers?” RALPH HUANG responded, “No comments; no comments on that topic there.”
After Wednesday’s PAC meeting, PlusNews waited for Hon. Contreras to find out if he could either validate or refute Lord Gibson’s claims. Mr. Contreras was asked a number of questions about his relationship, if any, with Lord Gibson, including the “Deputy Huang” title, but Hon. Contreras only said, “No comment”.
Final Red Flag… There are too many “no comments”. It’s time for Officials to speak and clarify what is going on here.
Lord Neil Gibson The Target Of Online Belizian Slander Campaign
March 12, 2014
There has been a social media explosion over the past week involving a Las Vegas based business man named Lord Neil Gibson and the allegations of wrongdoing with regards to the election of Ralph Huang as Standard Bearer to the Cayo South District in Belize. This campaign has reached even as high up as accusations against the Minister of Trade and Investment Erwin Contreras. There seem to be several sources as to the majority of the discussion, but the most prominent and notable source is a news station called Channel 5 Belize and the associated website which has run several biased opinion pieces like the following http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/96077 while positioning them as vetted news.
The real discussion to be undertaken involves the following factual items that have been supported and verified by all parties involved, including Channel 5 Belize. Gibson vocally and transparently supported the election of Huang for Standard Bearer, quoting on his own websites and public spaces that Huang "is a friend of mine and the right person for the job." Huang also verified his friendly relationship with Gibson in several interviews, having never denied Gibson's support for his campaign. Additionally, there have been several accusations of impropriety regarding several websites that were operated as discussion boards involving issues with regards to Belize, one under the url centralbankofbelize.com and one under the url channel5belize.org. Both these websites have been brought into question and used by the above named news organization to support claims of impropriety on both Gibson's and Huang's part, going as far as to involve Contreras in the discussion as to the election of Huang being somehow suspect. It is quite apparent that either the Channel 5 Belize news organization as a whole, or some individual within the organization itself, is utilizing the airwaves as well as multiple social media sites like Youtube, Facebook and others in order to attempt to throw the election of Huang and his involvement with Gibson into question, the most obvious motivation being political gain or the defeat of a candidate they supported. To address the facts that have been circulated and twisted in order to cause doubt on the validity of the election or the relationship of Huang to Gibson, there is nothing illegal or improper whatsoever for a business man to support and contribute towards to election of a candidate he favors. Huang never attempted to hide his relationship with Gibson, or deny that there were contributions to his election campaign. Allegations of corruption must come from the potential contribution to a campaign in exchange for some favor or other improper action in order to be valid and substantiated, and there has been no evidence presented in any capacity that there has been any promise made to Gibson of any kind by Huang in exchange for his support. Until Channel 5 Belize can produce such evidence, their allegations of corruption must be called into question and their motivations must be scrutinized.
The issue of the urls has also been grossly misrepresented by Channel 5 Belize on both their newscast as well as their Youtube Channel, where they reference the urls as being somehow misleading as to their intention. Channel 5 Belize insinuates in their broadcasts that these websites are somehow attempting to divert users away from the true Channel 5 website, or the true Central Bank Of Belize websites. During the very broadcast in which they made these allegations and the Youtube version that followed, they showed a screen-capture of one of the two sites, obviously an online chat-board which bears no resemblance whatsoever to either of the true sites in question. There are no elements even closely resembling banking or news information on either website, and in reality the websites were chat-style blog communities where users could post information and opinions on Belizian issues, including Lord Neil Gibson and his development projects in Belize. The only aspects of the websites that were even remotely questionable were the urls themselves as they bore a resemblance to the Channel 5 url and the Central Bank url. In this case as well, nothing illegal or improper was ever circulated via these spaces as they were used only to discuss Belizian issues, and never made a single claim that they were even remotely associated with the organizations, let alone were pretending to be them. The allegations made by Channel 5 Belize must be called into question once again due to these misleading claims of improper actions on Gibson's or Huang's part, and their motivations for putting these types of stories out as actual news must be scrutinized as far as their motivations.
Political corruption is a global problem, but the accusations of political corruption should come from some basis of speculation that is more concrete than the single element that Channel 5 references over and over again in their broadcasts, a statement from an anonymous person in an article stating that "Lord Gibson is a fraud," which can be seen and referenced here. The real problem with this accusation holding any water when used to put Gibson, Huang, Contreras or any other Belizian politician into doubt is that it comes from their very own website, and is unsubstantiated by facts in any way. It is simply an opinion piece put out by a person who obviously dislikes Gibson enough to write an article about him, but is not valid enough to actually have credit for authorship taken. Obviously put forth as part of a large scale slander campaign that utilizes the internet in order to cast doubt as to Gibson's reputation through manipulation of search engine results for "Lord Neil Gibson" and variations of his name, this is just another invalid attempt to mislead internet researchers by exploiting Google's weaknesses as far as truth goes, that they do not vet the validity of the statements put forth in postings. Essentially, posts that are on more popular blogs and websites will rank higher than less popular ones, casting the reputations of those being written about into the hands of the most "popular bloggers." It is a shame when these bloggers pretend to be news organizations, as the misrepresentation of the facts can cause innocent people to be judged unfairly. Wouldn't it be wiser to question Huang's stances or Gibson's campaign contributions after something seemingly improper actually took place? If a Las Vegas businessman cannot go online to his own website and put a Youtube video praising the election of his friend to a position of government, then seemingly it would be better for nobody to ever take credit, and the public would be more comfortable with contributions that are made completely in secret, and do not use the web to specifically tell the people of Belize that a contribution was made? The real question here seems to be "who are the actual corrupt people in Belize?" From what we can tell so far, it seems like it is the editors for Channel 5.
You surely know the name of Minister of Trade Erwin Contreras, but you probably don't know his daughter Danini Contreras. But she's making the news tonight because she's gotten a big job at the Ministry of Health and the rarely-heard-from Pharmacists' Association of Belize is making a major stink about it.
"To be a drug inspector, you have to be a registered pharmacist, have 5 years working experience, specialized training in drug inspection, and have an associate or a diploma in pharmacy."
"This person not being qualified - there's a way around that. The person can get training - fine. But the fact that the person has no working experience and has no knowledge of the status quo of Belize in terms of what is actually happening - the fact that the person is very politically tied gives us that sense of what are you going to actually be looking at - are you going to be subjected to just looking at what you need to look at, or at everything. And that's where it hurts us to think that it might just be a person that is groomed to be a rubber stamp."
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