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Belize Bank and GOB tussle in lower and upper courts

GeneralBelize Bank and GOB tussle in lower and upper courts
Bank charged in connection with deposits of over US$2 million between January 2004 and August 2005
 
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Belize Bank were back in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court this morning, Wednesday, in connection with the 79 charges the FIU had brought up against the bank for failing to report suspicious transactions, for foreign currency deposits totaling just over US$2 million made by the Belize Telecommunications Limited between January 2004 and August 2005.
 
Belize Bank manager, Martin Marshalleck, today pleaded not guilty on the bank’s behalf before Magistrate Sharon Frazer.
 
It now turns out that the matter of whether the case will be heard in the higher court – the Supreme Court – has been settled, and there was no indication in court today that the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) has weighed in on whether the matter should be tried summarily or on indictment. In the absence of a DPP directive, the case has to be tried in the lower court – where the consequences of a possible find against the bank won’t be as stringent.
 
But there is another issue that came to the fore today – that of whether there will be enough evidence brought before the court to seal a conviction for the FIU against the bank.
 
After today’s session, the bank’s attorney, Eamon Courtenay, spoke with the press, and sounded the siren on this central point.
 
“We have gone over the records of the bank – the bank had provided us with the records that they have. We are very confident, first of all, that the bank will prevail at the end of the day,” said Courtenay. “Secondly, we have been asking the FIU to provide us with the evidence that they say that they have, which will supposedly support this offense. Despite repeated requests, they have not done so. We have come to court today. They still don’t have evidence to provide to us.”
 
Courtenay contends that the charges brought by the FIU won’t stick on the bank.
 
“It seems to me that there is an issue here about evidence in the possession of the prosecution. I have made it abundantly clear, abundantly clear, in court, on the record this morning, that we want all the evidence in the possession of the FIU – whether they intend to use it or not – because it is our view that they do not have evidence to support these charges,” he told us.
 
He said that he had gotten a promise from FIU’s special prosecutor, B.Q. Pitts, that full disclosure will happen when the case returns to court on July 8.
 
“I feel that the FIU needs to step back. When you make an allegation like this, you need to have compelling evidence…because of the implications for the financial institutions in this country, and for the financial system,” said Courtenay. “Secondly, you will note that these offences go back to years ago, years ago, when the Central Bank and the FIU were conducting their investigations, special and otherwise, of financial institutions over this period of time, and nothing was said of bringing charges. All of a sudden for this one institution, they have decided to commence these proceedings, but what is worse, and I repeat it, they haven’t been able to give us the evidence. Why is that?”
 
Courtenay told us that while the bank may file suit in the event it feels that the bank has been subject to “malicious prosecution,” he believes that at the end of the day they will be in a position to ask the court to dismiss the charges against the Belize Bank.
 
We recollect that last week Prime Minister Dean Barrow told Amandala that similar charges were to be brought up against a second bank – one headed by a Belizean – but he declined to name the bank, saying that they were in negotiations to get the bank to enter a plea. However, to date, we know of no legal proceedings that have been filed for any bank other than those filed against the Belize Bank.
 
Note that while the court proceedings were in progress in the Magistrate’s Court, upstairs the Chief Justice, Dr. Abdulai Conteh, was delivering a ruling on a separate injunction hearing involving the Belize Bank and the Government. (See story entitled, Chief Justice slaps injunction on Central Bank, telling it not to enforce directives on the Belize Bank.)
 

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