Tonight, the scandal involving Cayo Northeast Representative Elvin Penner deepens as more information is surfacing about the Belizean passport that was fraudulently issued to a South Korean National.
7news has learned that the South Korean man is in jail in Taiwan and is pending extradition to another Asian country. He's reportedly very wealthy but has been in a Taiwan jail since August. Yet, quite suddenly, he now possesses a Belizean passport dated September 9th, 2013, which he could not have applied for - because he was in jail! Apparently, it was thought that the Belziean passport could have saved him from extradition.
The problem for former Minister of State in the Ministry of Immigration Penner is that he signed the South Korean's passport picture and application - which is required by law under the new passport regulations. The justice of the Peace counter-signing it is - we are told - a former UDP elected representative at the municipal level who is close to Penner.
But not only did they sign an application and picture for man who was in jail in another country - best information suggests this man has never even been to Belize - so he could never have qualified for a passport.
That's the best information we have - and that's what leads to the statement in the Prime Minister's release that Penner, quote, "did not discharge his responsibilities with either the due judgment and balance, or the scrupulous regard for appearances…." That's why the Prime Minister forced him to resign - and in so doing, likely conceded the Cayo Northeast seat which was, at best, marginal for the UDP - after Penner won by only 17 votes in the 2012 general election.
But - there are much more serious issues at stake tonight, because as we said in the headline, it's become an international incident. That's because it appears the passport was conveyed to the South Korean by a diplomat from another country - and the deal was reportedly set up by another UDP elected official - at the municipal level - and reports say that person is still in Taiwan. When the South Korean got the passport late last week, eyebrows were raised in Taiwan because, again, the date of issuance was September ninth - when the new Belizean citizen had been in jail since August.
It's a seamy case, and we expect more revelations in the days to come - as the Ministry of Immigration releases its findings on an internal investigation, which continued today.
For the PM, the scandal emerges comes at a most inopportune time, on the eve of his Independence Day Address, in which he had hoped to gain some political lift by focusing on infrastructure expenditure in the coming months. That speech will be aired live on Channel 7 tomorrow morning.
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