Email

Print

When the Prime Minister dropped the bomb on Ashcroft, seems Briceno was standing at ground zero. Barrow outlined the startling state of the Telecommunications Industry – where instead of competition, there’s a duopoly, managed competition, controlled by Ashcroft affiliated interests. The bottom line being that SMART – which is operated by John Briceno’s brother and cousin, is, according to the PM, owned by Ashcroft affiliated interests.

Hon. Dean Barrow,
“Telecommunications – information and communications technology – is a critical part of the development apparatus of any modern society. Indeed, as has been officially recognized by our regional integration movement CARICOM, it is an indispensable tool in that restructuring of developing countries’ economies that, in the face of the global crisis, must begin to take place now. Accordingly, unregulated monopoly control and abuse of the sector cannot be permitted. Yet, that is precisely what the Accommodation Agreement mandates. This is especially so in view of the fact that even the very limited mobile phone so-called competitor to Telemedia, is owned by Telemedia. That is right and I have the documents to prove it. 77.38% of Speednet is owned by three companies – Callerbar Limited, Riddermark Ventures Limited, and Heaver Holdings Limited. These three companies are headquartered at the Belize City Cork Street premises owned, bougth and owned by Michael Ashcroft, and the companies are in turn controlled by two of the now notorious Trusts owned by Michael Ashcroft.

Mr. Leader I was happy that you declared your family’s interest because and I am not going to say you are personally interested in Speednet, in Smart, but you freely concede that your family, Jaime Briceno, your brother, Renan Briceno your first cousin, and Jorge Briceno, I am not sure in what relation he stands though, are principals in Speednet. From the time I checked Speednet, when I thought that in fact it was majority owned by the Ashcroft group, I discovered that there were two companies, Callerbar Limited and Riddermark Ventures that in fact together own 55% of Speednet but I didn’t know at the time who controlled Callerbar and Riddermark. I suspected it had to be the Ashcroft crowd because of the address, 4 Cork Street. That is the old Colton house, almost directly opposite the entrance of the Radisson Fort George that I happen to know Michael Ashcroft bought because I was trying to buy it myself and he beat me to it.

So I knew from then companies headquartered there belong to him but it wasn’t until later that I found out about the trust and in the meantime you see that 55% has been increased to 77.38% because on 13th January 2009 Jaime Briceno transferred 58 of his shares to a new Ashcroft company Heaver Holdings Limited of #4 Cork Street Belize City for a consideration of $6,090,000. On the same date Renan Briceno transferred 17 of his shares to the same Heaver Holdings Limited for a consideration of $1,785,000. You said I should have taken you to my confidence, how could I? Your family, I nuh say you, are minority shareholders in Speednet which is owned by Ashcroft. Your family, they work for Ashcroft.”

When Briceno rose to speak, he did not refute Barrow’s assertion that Ashcroft affiliated entities owned 77% of SPEEDNET. When a division was called for individual members to state their vote Briceno voted against the Act and so did Francis Fonseca. PUP Deputy Leaders Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde abstained.