Little phrases mixed in with a whole lot of words can hang around in the recesses of the mind. I often don’t even know that a little phrase is playing over and over inside my head until it suddenly pops back up in another context. When Channel 7 was giving the news last week, Indira Craig almost casually said that, “The two corporations (she was referring to ZMT and BCH, the “Belizean owned” oil companies that were the lucky winners of incredibly favorable contracts from GOB) were registered outside the country.”
I had copies of those contracts when I appeared on the Kremandala Show on Tuesday, October 23rd, but I was just looking at the comparisons between the schedule and the percentage of royalties that these companies would pay and the royalties to be paid by the foreign company, Lagoon Resources Ltd., that sent in the first bid on blocks that were awarded to the said “Belizean” companies later. I didn’t look at anything else on those documents then.
I was part of a conversation shortly thereafter about offshore banking and offshore companies. That little phrase, “registered outside the country,” popped back up and I decided to do some research, although at the time I had no clear direction in mind. I logged on to the “net” and picked out a site with an intriguing message, “Set up your own offshore company in 8 minutes or less!” I thought that it would be interesting to delve deeper, so I began clicking away.
The site offered a whole lot of information about offshore companies, or IBC’s (International Business Companies) as they are called by the denizens of that world. By the way, the term “offshore” doesn’t have anything to do with the ocean. The Caribbean islands were the first countries to offer these kinds of services about 25 years ago; that’s where the term came from. Panama was the focus of much praise on these sites. Hmmm, Panama, Let’s find out why, I thought. This government says Panama is a good friend of Belize. After all, the Panamanian President’s late father, General Omar Torrijos, became the first Central American leader to support Belize’s bid for independence during the later 1970’s. I wonder. There are almost always things going on beneath the surface in this world, things that are being hidden. If you call me cynical, guess what. You’re right! Given what I’ve seen in 59 and one half years, I would have to be crazy not to be cynical.
Now check this out. The following three paragraphs are direct quotes from this particular easy-to-locate internet website.
“Panama Corporation Anonymity” (Bold type and underlining theirs, not mine) “Under Panama law, a S.A. corporation (bearer share-corporation) can be owned by the physical holder of certificates of stock with no recorded owner in any public data base or public registry. In fact, the government does not even know who the owners are of the bearer share- corporation. The Nominee Directors can be hired and are thus employees, not owners and their names are recorded in the public registry but we provide the nominee directors for you to preserve your anonymity. You can effectively transfer stock certificates privately with no record of the sale appearing anywhere. The new owner can replace the directors with his own directors and even have resignation letters in his possession for the directors.”
“What can you do with your Panama company?—A Panama corporation can own bank accounts, stock trading accounts, real estate, boats, planes, cars, art, jewelry, businesses, and other valuables all without revealing the actual ownership of the corporation. Additional complex strategies can be employed using the lawyer to perform certain functions for the corporation. In Panama there is strong privileged communication between the attorney and the client.”
The website stresses that, “A bank anywhere in the civilized world will require a beneficial owner for any bank account and will also require identity documents for that but this is all covered by Panama Bank Secrecy Laws, which are often considered the best in the world.”
So here’s what it’s about. Set up your corporation in Panama and you will be able to: operate the company while hiding the following information from the prying eyes of any investigator or investigating commission: the real owners of assets, the source from which the assets came, all of the company’s financial transactions, including who made them, the amount of any transaction, when they were made, etc. The company can be registered by paying the Government of Panama $300 US. The amount of start-up capital required? Zero! That’s right, nada! Your company doesn’t have to show any money or demonstrate that it is a viable, genuine business!
Panama permits a corporation to keep its real assets, including cash anywhere in the world without the location (or locations) being recorded in any data base or public registry! Since it is almost impossible to find out anything about a Panamanian registered company and its activities, tax evasion becomes as easy as taking candy from that proverbial baby! There is almost no chance of prosecuting a successful law suit against this type of corporation.
In fact, those who are really determined to remain “anonymous” will set up a whole string of holding companies. These are what are called “shell companies.” They have no assets and they do no business per the normal definition of the word. Their only purpose is to build as many walls as possible between investigators and the owners.
Question: Now, what kind of company needs laws like these? Answer: A company whose owners don’t want anyone to find out a lot of the things that they are doing. Now, dear readers, guess where our two “Belizean companies,” ZMT and BCH, companies that “were going to benefit the Belizean people,” companies that were being “persecuted” and “smeared” by those bent on “political mischief,” are registered? Why PANAMA, of course! Come to think of it, Lagoon Resources Ltd., the “foreign company” that was pushed aside “for the benefit of Belizeans,” is incorporated in Punta Gorda! Maybe we could be forgiven if we might think that the “foreign company” is technically more Belizean than the “Belizean company?”
These guys can say anything that they want to about their reputations being tarnished and about taking legal action against people who say bad things about their companies. The facts are that both ZMT and BCH are incorporated and registered in a foreign country which allows what can only be characterized as extreme secrecy in regards to ownership, finances, assets, business, activities etc.
The advertisements pumping the benefits of Panamanian incorporation emphasize over and over again that Panamanian law allows business practices that are illegal almost anywhere else in the world. The majority of the “civilized world” that the ad so quaintly refers to, apparently doesn’t think that it’s a good idea at all to allow corporations to operate in this way, for obvious reasons. This kind of secrecy provides a suitable business environment for people who want to “launder” (i.e. conceal the source of) money that comes from drugs, corruption and other questionable sources, for those who wish to conceal the identity of their associates and who want to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
There’s another question from the past that pops up, or rather a question that we now have some partial answers to, namely why was a certain Belizean ex-diplomat apparently making frequent trips to Panama – at least 16 over a three-month stretch – with what on at least one occasion was a suitcase full of cash, $1 million? Is it possible, dear readers that millions of dollars are being funneled into secret bank accounts maintained by “Belizean corporations” that are controlled by owners who can hide their identities because they are registered in a country that permits corporations to operate in absolute secrecy? Could the owners be Government Ministers and friends of Government Ministers; people who don’t want the Belizean people to find out exactly who is salting away all that stolen money, and who will be getting what share of the additional money they plan to steal from the sale of Belizean oil at a time when prices have reached an all time high?
I find it interesting that some of the “Belizean elite” appear to be showing real concern about people who might soon be looking for all those tax dollars that have disappeared from The Jewel! Panama’s laws allow businesses to construct so many firewalls between them and the outside world that finding out any information about these companies rapidly becomes too time-consuming and too expensive to continue. The “Lord” is widely acknowledged throughout the world as one of the grandmasters of these tactics. Guess he had some willing and eager students!
The other red hot story is the shameful denouement of the Bou-Nahra affair in the Supreme Court. My wife and I began warning people about the corrupt road that Belize was traveling way back in 1993. Almost nobody was listening. The only person in any of our governments who took our allegations seriously and who attempted to help was the Honorable Henry Young. The favorite excuse from officials who were either paid off or scared off was that since the people who tried to steal our property were my so-called relatives, they could avoid their responsibility to take action by saying, “It’s a family dispute!” We got sick of pointing out that the corruption in the police force and in the judicial system that became apparent as things progressed, transformed this from a “family dispute” into a full-fledged criminal conspiracy, featuring stuff like: removal of pages from the lands register in Belmopan, the theft of our mail, and finally, death threats.
The police openly displayed their bias. When a car full of these “relatives” tried to run over our son with their vehicle while he was crossing Ecumenical Drive in Dangriga, the cops laughed in my wife’s face when she tried to file a report! Put yourselves in our shoes. A known person tries to commit vehicular homicide on our child ( he was 14 years old then) and the police, who pledge to serve their country honorably, to protect the interests of all law-abiding citizens regardless of ethnicity, political affiliation, skin color, wealth or lack of wealth, “connections” or lack of “connections,” openly “tek yu fo’ poppy show!”
A youth who had just been released from prison for rape also attempted to rape one of our daughters prior to the attempted murder of our son. The police initially refused to arrest the man; they said they didn’t have a vehicle available. My wife, who was with our daughter while she filed a report at the station, told the cops, “That’s okay, because my husband and some of his friends are on their way to the man’s house right now!” The police grabbed a vehicle – remember, they didn’t have one available a few minutes ago – and practically flew down the streets. They arrived just as the window was being ripped out of the wall! The guy jumped through another window and dove headfirst into the police vehicle! Somehow, I think he felt a lot safer going with them than he would have felt discussing the situation with us. The man got bailed out of jail. Then he bailed out of Dangriga. The police were not at all enthusiastic about the prospect of having to find him and bring him back for trial; in fact, the case was never allowed to go to trial. Adjournment after adjournment, sought by the police of course, finally gave the judge no alternative but to toss out the case and dismiss the charges. I was enraged then and remain so to this very day!
We know what mothers, and fathers, are going through when they have to deal with callous disrespect from police in addition to dealing with stress and grief. This Police Department shoves it in your face in every possible way they can; you are a second class citizen, not even worthy of the small courtesies that should be part and parcel of any conversation between people and agencies that are supposed to provide service to all citizens. Not only is there often outright refusal to do the job that they swore they would do when they graduated from the Police Academy, they want to break your spirit by trying to humiliate you. Some officers now openly boast that they will murder those citizens “who give trouble.” They don’t fear any repercussions for their use of torture either, a practice which is becoming more and more frequent as the months and years go by. I wonder, how will they respond when life does a “180” on them?
You see, back in 1993 the economy hadn’t yet pushed people to the brink. Gas hadn’t reached $5.00 per gallon, although it was knocking on the door, and the middle class hadn’t been hurt anywhere near as badly as it has been hurt today. People could con themselves into thinking that they were doing okay, so they thought it made no sense to take any risks by speaking out as long as others were the ones taking the blows.
In 1998 our national debt topped out at “only” $488 million. Our national debt is now almost $3 billion, gas is on its way to $15 plus per gallon and what Frankie & Diana Rhys spent to feed our household for a week in 1998 barely covers 3 days in 2007! Taxes are stripping every dollar possible from the middle and the working classes. Even those “ketch ‘n kill” citizens, the unemployed who have to hustle every dollar to survive, are being bled dry by the GST. Utility rates are ridiculous.
When we moved to our present location in 2004, our electricity bills averaged $45 to $60 per month. Towards the end of 2005, they climbed to $80-99 per month. Last month’s bill was $133! We have the same number and the same kind of electrical appliances that we had in 2004. These figures can’t be accounted for by the “approved” (by the PUC and the Minister) rate increases. Our economic story is the same as the economic story for all those who choose not to feast at the table of corruption. I guess there is a certain amount of satisfaction in that our concerns have been vindicated, but believe me, this is one time when we would have rather been proven wrong. Living in a disintegrating society is no day at the beach!
A once thriving middle class is thriving no more. We have been “independent” for only 26 years, but one glaring weakness of Belizean society and culture has been exposed for all to see. We have demonstrated an extraordinary lack of empathy for each other, even among blood relatives. Empathy for neighbors and strangers, are you joking? The prevailing attitude could be accurately defined in this way: “As long as me and mine are relatively okay, f—- you and yours!” Unfortunately, what this means is that by the time a sizeable part of the population realizes how badly they are being screwed, it’s late, very late! The more entrenched tyrants become, the harder it becomes to dislodge them.
One of the hallmarks of crazy narco-state corruption is an out-of control police department. As corruption spreads like a plague, the general population begins to lose any respect that they used to have for their so-called “leaders.” Then the “leaders” give the “nod” to the security forces. They instruct the police and the military to try to force citizens to quietly accept their fate. The security forces are told to intimidate and eliminate those who have balls enough – this includes you too, sisters – to publicly question, criticize and stand up to them. There have been societies in recent times that have gone so far as to use schools to encourage children to turn in their parents for anti-government criticism even if it was only expressed around the dinner table!
The inevitable consequence of this “nod” is that the security forces become monsters. When monsters are let out of a cage, it’s almost too impossible to force them to get back in! Look at the case of Rennick Reneau. Rennick worked for the government media – by the way this made no difference to those of us who knew him – therefore he should have been, in theory, exempt from police violence. Working for the PUP didn’t help him at all!
According to a letter from a family friend published in the October 28th Reporter, Rennick’s mother has been threatened. She has been told that if she continues to pursue justice for her son’s murder, she will be killed too! Once the security forces slip their leash nobody is safe: young or old, male or female, son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter, brother or sister, father, mother, grandfather or grandmother. When Frank Elijio was badly beaten by Belize City police – they said he was “upstart” – he was in his ‘60’s. They almost beat him to death!
I wonder if certain folks haven’t overstepped their bounds by moving too fast too soon! The Belizean public may not be conditioned enough yet to passively accept the murder of independent media personalities or to accept a police department that will display its power to the extent of openly committing perjury in the Supreme Court to fix a murder case. I know that the official charge was manslaughter, but even that appeared to be a fix. It appears that this system isn’t willing to concede anything to the memory of a poor, young black man and his family.
“He was shot several times in the back at medium range? F—- him! He’s a ‘nobody,’ an ex- con who was soon headed right back to jail anyway. He has no rights. Who gives a damn about him or his family? Put a wealthy and connected person like Bou-Nahra away for the likes of somebody like him, are you nuts or what?”
And to those citizens who think that the exhibition put on by the police in the Supreme Court was outrageous?
“F—- all of you, too! What’re you gonna do to stop us? We run things here and we run things the way we want to. The Constitution? Don’t make me laugh. Who cares about a piece of paper! You, the average citizen, have no rights either, other than the rights that we choose to let you have at any given moment, and don’t you forget it!”
That’s exactly the message that the Belize Police Department delivered to the entire country on Wednesday, October 23rd, 2007! Wonder if the sanctimonious Commish will have the b—-s to face the public on TV or in a no holds barred open press conference instead of issuing press releases from the safety of his private office now that his department is regarded by the majority of citizens as a national disgrace.
In every modern state, by this I’m referring to states created during the last 150 years of human history, these are the steps taken by countries headed for dictatorship. Take a look at the dictatorships that have been established in the Americas and in those post-colonial countries that declared “independence” only to become countries controlled by an apparatus of state terrorism run by the security forces, an apparatus that readily employs all kinds of intimidation, kidnapping, torture and murder to maintain that control! Is it any accident that the military and the police play such a dominant role in the governments of our neighbors? Welcome to reality, Belizeans! If there is no serious attempt right now to derail our headlong plunge into the cesspool, it will become increasingly difficult to shut down the terrorist state security apparatus later on, after they have had an opportunity to dig in. There is no later on. If you don’t stand up today, a lot of Belizeans will have made a choice to kneel in submission for a long time! Pretending that the choice doesn’t exist or that “it can’t happen here,” won’t make it go away!