As much as 44 square miles of Belizean territory – which the sellers claim houses 14 unexcavated Mayan sites, just north of Ladyville (Belize District) and located minutes away from a major Mayan ruin – Altun Ha – has been opened for a multi-million-dollar bid on the international market. The territory – clearly much bigger than the country’s largest metropolis, Belize City – is known as Salt Creek Estate and is held by Mayan Plantation. It is being offered in tracks of 920 acres for US$2 million; 15,960 acres plus the 920 acres for a minimum of US$10 million, and a third track of 11,333 acres, which reportedly carries a higher price tag per acreage than the first two tracks. The Canadian News Wire quotes the price at US$3,800 an acre, but the sellers don’t quote a price.

Mayan Plantation, formerly known as Compradore Limited (the name under which the properties are officially registered in Belize) claims that the property it holds has a 400-year history. Indeed, Belize’s history books indicate that the area was formerly known as Zacatan Town (Mayan territory), but European pirates took over the territory by force in the 1600’s. The website of Belizea Corporation, a Mayan Plantation Limited affiliate, claims "Belizea Corporation is a major owner, sole trustee and asset manager of the nearly 400-year old Mayan Plantation."

The corporation’s chairman, Gerhart W. Walch, claims to be a Master Mason of the 32 degree Scottish Rite Mason (one of the highest orders of the ancient, occult fraternity of freemasonry) and educated in Austria and Switzerland.

Notably, the sellers are linked to what has been described as an over-the-counter trading company, WSF Corporation (Wall Street Financial), which had its Securities and Exchange registration revoked in 2002 for allegedly failing to meet standard reporting and audit requirements.

Amandala was unable to get Belizean Government officials to give any concrete information on the sale in our investigations today, but what we were able to determine from official sources is that there are four tracks of land held by Compradore, a Hawaiian corporation. They are 14,333 acres, 15,960 acres, 1,000 acres and 130 acres: a total of 31,423 acres of land or 50 square miles. The Belize properties were reportedly valued by the company at US$134.5 million.

Government sources indicate that the land was privately transferred to the present owner from a private entity, but Natural Resources officials contend that, whether land is issued before or after Mayan ruins are discovered, any such land automatically returns to the Government of Belize and the lease would have to be rectified to exclude the portion of the lands containing Mayan ruins.

Bids for property will reportedly close on December 11, 2006, and have been publicized on the web.

In July, 2005, the company had announced out of Honolulu, Hawaii, that, "One of the largest and best planned boutique resorts developments in the Central American country of Belize is set to begin."

The announcement had said that the development would be completed and open within one year.

On November 6, 2006, Cushman & Wakefield, which claims to be the world’s largest real estate services firm, announced that 17,000 acres of Mayan Plantation would be up for grabs.

"Stretching along 15 miles of oceanfront and 40 miles of combined lagoon shoreline, the land offers amenities such as a barrier reef for diving excursions, fly fishing and incredible adventure tourism opportunities," its announcement said.

Cushman & Wakefield concluded that an additional 15,000 acres of hardwood tropical forest, including 30 miles of private lagoon and oceanfront property for resort development, "could be available to the right buyer or joint venture partner." This would make a total of about 32,000 acres.

Some persons who had held shares in WSF Corporation but later sold, allege the proposed deal is a big scam, and that there had been several attempts in the past to sell the said properties. However, Belizea has maintained that their operations are legit.

"In June, the Belizean Government approved our subdivision application for three development parcels consisting of approximately 17,000 acres, plus one remaining parcel of about 14,000 acres," Walch said. "This action allows us to now go forward with the implementation of this project, after years of planning and design work."