Today in the Supreme Court, the Ashcroft Alliance and the Government of Belize were back at it - and this time they were arguing over one of the seminal events that led to the demise of the Musa Administration. That's the publicly guaranteed 33.5 million dollar Belize Bank loan for the private hospital formerly known as Universal Health Services. In 2007, it was revealed that Former Prime Minister Said Musa and then Attorney General Francis Fonseca had signed a loan note guaranteeing the debt for UHS without Cabinet's knowledge and without taking it to Parliament.
PM Musa eventually - and without public disclosure - used a 10 million US dollar grant from Taiwan and another 10 million US from Venezuela to pay off the debt.
The Bank then sold loaned that money to the Healthcare Partners group and sold the hospital for 39 million. That should have put the matter to bed but it didn't, and the Bank still wants back its money. It says that's because $20 million dollars that former PM Musa had paid to settle the debt, had to be returned to Government and so the settlement agreement collapsed and the Government remains on the hook. The London Court of International Arbitration agreed with the Bank and now it is going to the Supreme Court of Belize to try and enforce the award here.
But, government says it can't help them…because it's illegal to pay a loan that never went to the House. Government's Attorney Denys Barrow explained:
Denys Barrow, attorney
"The argument of the government is, is that section 114 of the constitution says that you cannot pay any money out of public funds without the constitution or some law authorizing it to be done. What was contemplated here was that the 2007 loan note was to be paid out of government funds. That didn't take place because rioted and prevented that taking place, so Belize Bank took government to arbitration. The arbitration tribunal decided that the loan note should be paid by government. Government said if we pay that loan note, we will be paying money out of the national treasury for which no law makes provision. Therefore i would be illegal."
Illegal and just plain wrong, because Government claims the Bank is trying to double dip for a debt, which was settled:
Denys Barrow, attorney
"So BHPL (Healthcare Partners) borrowed 45 million dollars from Belize Bank and it take 39 out of that to buy the assets of UHS. Remember now that UHS is owned by the people of Belize, so that hospital then belong to us and we sell that hospital and all its assets to Belize Healthcare Partners and Belize Healthcare Partners pay us 39, but that 39 that that they pay us, they pay us by paying the bank. So the bank got 39 million dollars for those assets, so they got the 40 million from Taiwan and Venezuela, took that money and lend Belize Healthcare Partners. Healthcare Partners buy the assets that we the people use to own, they now become the owner. Belize Bank got the 39 million dollars, we have nothing to show for us and Belize Bank wants to collect again."
Eamon Courtenay and Jose Alpuche appeared for the Belize Bank. Courtenay left before we could speak with him.
Justice Shona Griffith has reserved judgment for December 16, 2014.
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