BELIZE CITY, Wed. Sept. 23, 2020– Last week, iconic UDP businessman Nestor Vasquez, Sr., owner of the Channel 7 television station and former Chairman of Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), made headlines when he was accused of various acts of financial misconduct involving the misuse of BTL’s corporate credit card to the tune of roughly $400,000 for personal purchases and expenses, reportedly over a period of 3 years.
Despite initially claiming that the allegations brought against him were a result of the current political climate, Vasquez tendered his resignation as BTL Chairman shortly after the scandal made its way through the media.
This, however, was not satisfactory for the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. John Briceño, who raised the issue at the National Assembly during Wednesday’s House of Representatives meeting. At that meeting, Hon. Briceño called for Vasquez to resign from all other committees to which he had been appointed by the government, and for an investigation to be carried out by someone other than Audrey Wallace, who is the Prime Minister’s CEO and owner of Colorblind Multimedia, a company which reportedly works closely with BTL.
Briceño remarked, “I think that we, or this country, we’re demanding, one, that Mr. Vasquez resigns from all the other committees that he represents the UDP government. He is the chairman of the Investment Committee for the Social Security Board; he’s a member of the Central Bank of Belize Board and he’s also a member of the Integrity Commission.
“Secondly, also that Ms. Audrey Wallace, the Prime Minister’s Chief Executive Officer and who is also the owner of Colorblind, a company that we’re told is doing all the ads for BTL, is compromised and she cannot be allowed to lead any investigation into the allegations against the Chairman, and therefore, she must do what is right. She must remove herself from the inquiry.
“Three: that a commission of inquiry must be appointed forthwith to carry out a comprehensive, above-board investigation into the allegations of corruption and abuse at BTL.
“Four: that the Prime Minister calls for a forensic audit starting way back in 2009, and report its findings to the Belizean people.
“Five, Madame Speaker, the Prime Minister has been boasting about all the money that BTL has been making, that maybe he can tell us in this honorable House how much dividends for the past three years have been declared by BTL for the Government of Belize.”
Two days later, at least one of those demands were met, as a press release dated September 18, 2020, indicated that Nestor Vasquez had also tendered his resignation from his post as Chairman of the Social Security Board Investment Committee as well as from his membership on the Integrity Commission of Belize, and on the board of the Central Bank of Belize.
One day prior to this announcement, former Central Bank Governor Alan Slusher was elected interim Chairman of BTL’s board and is tasked with overseeing the investigation into Vasquez’s alleged financial misconduct.
The placement of Slusher at the helm of BTL’s board also raised concerns among the Opposition PUP, as Slusher is a former advisor to the Prime Minister, a former member of the BTL board and also a former Board member of the Central Bank.
Amid the ongoing investigations, BTL’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mohan Mahase, also tendered his resignation. Nestor Vasquez had served on BTL’s board since the company was nationalized 32 years ago. He was scheduled to retire in October of 2020 at the age of 89.