The Belize Bank has been cited on 79 charges under the Money Laundering (Prevention) Act, and Prime Minister Dean Barrow told us today that the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is preparing charges against a second bank, headed by a Belizean.
However, Prime Minister Barrow told us that he could not disclose the name of the bank just yet, because the Government is undergoing negotiations and trying to work out a plea bargain with them.
(We know that official probes have been made into the local and overseas affairs of a North-side bank whose owners have been under much scrutiny in recent years, but at this juncture we cannot say whether it is this same bank that will soon be made to face charges.)
Prime Minister Barrow also answered for Amandala the one burning question that our newspaper has had since the FIU dropped charges against Belize Bank president, Phil Johnson, last week. WHY?
He told Amandala that there are two reasons: one, that if the Government had charged Johnson, they would also have to charge the Belizean heading the second bank, which they don’t intend on doing, since they are in negotiations, and two, they want to proceed with ongoing negotiations with the Ashcroft group of companies, and principally Belize Telemedia Limited, regarding a dispute over tax payments, and so they dropped the charges against Johnson as “a goodwill gesture.”
Barrow told our newspaper that this is the first time a Government in Belize is moving against any such bank on charges under the Money Laundering (Prevention) Act – a move he considers to be a major milestone.