Commissioner of Police, Gerald Westby, confirmed to Amandala this evening that the Police Department is asking Joe Coye, former Cabinet Minister and Caribbean Shores area representative for the People’s United Party, to turn himself in with respect to police investigations surrounding the contentious sale of the Kings Park land upon which the Putt Putt Bar and Grill sits.
ComPol Westby told us that he could not get into the details of the case, but added that there would be more details by tomorrow, Friday.
Our sources say that a warrant is out for Coye’s arrest, and that he would be charged Friday morning, but no one has officially indicated what charges could be levied against him and on exactly what basis those charges could stand. We do know that the investigation has surrounded the transfer of land from an association to a businessman, and the money trail for the payment on the land.
The land transfer controversy broke days after New Year’s, and about a month before the general elections, when it was reported that Alfred Shakron, owner of J.E.C. & Co. Ltd. in Belize City, had purchased prime Northside property for an unbelievable $20,000 – well below the market value.
Apart from the claim that the piece of prime property was sold to Shakron for a massive discount, was the announcement that the Government had cancelled a 30-year lease the Colonial Band Association (CBA) held on the land. The CBA group allegedly rented it to the proprietor of Putt Putt, Orson Elrington.
Things began to heat up when one week after the new UDP administration came to office, the Ministry of Lands issued a series of caution letters for a batch of lands in Coye’s former division, including the Putt Putt land, warning that investors should refrain from transactions involving the lands “pending an assessment of the validity of tenure.”
When we spoke with Coye today, only minutes before our conversation with ComPol Westby, he told our newspaper that he was not aware of any police investigation. When we confirmed the matter with the Commissioner of Police, we called Coye again for his comments on the matter, but he told us that he was unable to comment at the time because he was sitting with his attorney (Godfrey Smith) to discuss the very matter.
Earlier this evening, Coye had told us that it is a conspiracy led by his political opponents. He told us that “certain elements” in Government have been out to ruin him.
Interestingly, Coye lost his seat in the February 7 general elections to the man who is now Minister of Police, Carlos Perdomo, the new Caribbean Shores area representative.
Coye said that friends have told him that on election night, Perdomo had said publicly, at the United Democratic Party’s victory party, that he, Perdomo, would put him, Joe, in jail.
In previous conversations with our newspaper, Coye had maintained that he received no financial benefit from the lands transaction. He told us that he merely made the recommendation for Shakron to the Ministry of Lands.
Coye has claimed that the intention was to use the land to build a craft training center and a basketball court.
Our sources say that the police are relying on a statement from Shakron himself, who is reportedly the complainant.
Last week, we had reported on statements made by Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Attorney General Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington, indicating that the former Prime Minister, Said Musa, and former Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amalia Mai, could also be charged with respect to the diversion of $20 million in grant funds from the Government of Venezuela to Belize, to pay off the private debt of Universal Health Services, contrary to a signed agreement that stipulated that the monies were to specifically be spent for housing for the poor.
Late this evening, the People’s United Party Secretariat issued a short press release saying the party is aware of the intention of the police to arrest Coye, and that he should be afforded “all his constitutional rights under the law.”
It adds that the party “…will be vigilant to ensure his fair treatment under the law, if any charges are brought against him.”