Police in Orange Walk Town have arrested and charged four persons, including a former beauty queen, in connection with the robbery of the Heritage Bank Orange Walk branch on April 5, 2011.
Ricky Valencia (also known as Valencio), 27, of Queen Charlotte Street in Belize City; Samantha Carlos, 26, of Orange Walk Town; and City residents Harold Valencia (or Valencio), 31, a Lance Corporal in the Belize Defence Force (BDF), and laborer Noel Usher, 30, appeared in court on charges of, respectively, robbery for Valencia, and conspiracy to commit robbery for all four accused. Carlos and Harold Valencia were represented by attorneys Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Marcel Cardona and Merlene Moody; the others appeared without an attorney.
Carlos, the branch manager, had won the Queen of the Bay title, representing Orange Walk, in 1999 and is an avid sportswoman, having played both football and basketball. She had also made a foray into politics as a municipal candidate in Orange Walk for the United Democratic Party (UDP) in March of 2003.
She had reported to police that two dark-skinned men had entered the bank around 12:55 on Tuesday afternoon under the pretext of wanting to speak to the loans officer, but then one of them held her up at gunpoint and forced her to open the bank vault, from which an estimated $202,000 was stolen, while the other subdued the bank’s supervisor and security guard, before escaping in a waiting vehicle.
But suspicions of an inside job led to further investigation and arrests this weekend.
Ricky and Harold Valencia are brothers; Ricky, along with Akeem Thurton, is out on bail for the attempted murder of the Prime Minister’s law partner, Rodwell Williams, which occurred last May and may have that bail taken away when he next returns to court for that matter in Belize City, as one of the conditions of his bail was that he should not be arrested for any other crime while out on bail.
Speaking with Amandala tonight, Bradley said that in court, the police prosecutor objected to bail for the accused on the grounds that the matter is of grave public concern in Orange Walk, and that the investigation by police is ongoing.
The attorneys all submitted that neither robbery nor conspiracy to commit any crime other than murder are listed among the offences for which bail cannot be granted, and that the court should have regard to whether the defendants are possible flight risks or may not otherwise return to court.
But presiding Magistrate Linden Flowers ruled for no bail, citing the preamble to the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act, Cap. 102 of the Laws of Belize, which, as with all laws, provides for matters incidental thereto, and ruled that the charges of conspiracy are incidental to the crime committed, and therefore he could not grant bail at this time.
Bradley said tonight that they will be applying to the Supreme Court on their clients’ behalf for bail.
We understand that further arrests are expected for handling stolen goods, as police have reportedly recovered items believed to have been bought with the stolen money. At least one other suspect may be charged, we are told.
The robbers were reportedly identified on the bank’s surveillance cameras, as they took off their sunshades while leaving.
Also charged is Marva Welch, 42, a security supervisor at the Institute of Creative Arts in Belize City, with handling stolen goods. She, too, was denied bail for the same reasons as the other four defendants.
All five will return to court on May 19, 2011.