The seemingly endless legal wrangling spawned by separate efforts by the Government of Belize and the Central Bank, a statutory regulator, to investigate and to reverse the diversion of US$20 million in public funds, entered another chapter this week on Wednesday and Thursday in the courtroom of Chief Justice, Dr. Abdulai Conteh.
The Belize Bank is asking the judge to grant a permanent injunction barring the 3-man Banks and Financial Institutions Appeals Board from holding hearings in the dispute between the private sector bank and the Central Bank over orders Central Bank gave in March – calling on the private bank to return the US$10 million secretly diverted to it by the former administration, and for the bank to provide information on the transactions surrounding the additional US$10 million from Taiwan, which similarly – and secretly – found its way into the bank’s coffers.
Vincent Nelson, QC, of London, and Andrew Marshalleck of Barrow & Co. in Belize City, argued for the bank, which continues to hold its stance – that the deposits were accepted by the bank to satisfy the government-guaranteed debt of the Universal Health Services, now Belize Healthcare Partners.
While the opposing sides have disagreed on many issues – one central agreement remains: that is, “it’s all about the money,” and especially the Venezuelan money – which Government contends could only legally be applied to fund housing for the poor, based on a formal agreement with the Government of Venezuela and the provisions of the Belize Constitution.
On Wednesday afternoon Nelson laid out the foundational argument of the bank – that is, that the appeals board cannot legally hear their case because any “fair-minded and informed observer” would conclude that it cannot be seen as impartial and independent, since the Prime Minister, whose complaint sparked the Central Bank directives, is also the person who appoints two of three tribunal members.
And even though their legal arguments have focused on the appointments of Jaime Alpuche and Jeffrey Locke – the bank included the appeals board chairman, Justice Samuel Awich, as one of the six respondents in the case.
Notably, it was the Chief Justice himself who designated Awich to sit as chair, but the Chief Justice – whose very courtroom has seen a flurry of cases over the Venezuelan grant diversion – decided to designate Awich to sit in his place.
In an earlier session held to decide whether the court should award the Belize Bank an injunction to stop the Central Bank from enforcing its March 14 directives, the Chief Justice asked the parties whether he should recuse himself, and all parties agreed that it was not necessary.
Michael Young, SC, is representing the three members of the appeals board, while Lois Young, SC, appears along with Pricilla Banner for the Government of Belize and, the Prime Minister/Minister of Finance (Hon. Dean Barrow), and Lois Young, SC, alone the Central Bank.
Marshalleck told the court that the Belize Bank’s right to an appeal under the Banks and Financial Institutions Act was rendered nugatory because the appeals board was not appointed until after the 10-day time limit set out in the act.
However, Lois Young, who presented the positions of the Government and the Central Bank this afternoon, refuted that claim, saying that the bank had ample opportunity to appeal – up until May 4, and it refused, even in light of an extension granted by Justice Awich.
Despite the arguments laid out by the Belize Bank – they said in court that they have now filed their appeal with the Banks and Financial Institutions Appeals Board – attorney Michael Young has told us that because of the ongoing case challenging the board’s very constitutionality, the board has decided put the hearing on hold for now.
There was an early adjournment of today’s session, and hearings are scheduled to resume Friday morning at 9:00 a.m.