7 News Belize

COLA Goes Public With auditor General’s Findings
posted (June 12, 2014)
Two days ago, COLA sent out a press release saying it had acquired a leaked copy of the Auditor General's report on the Citizen Kim debacle and other irregularities at the Immigration Department. The activist group which launched a private prosecution against Elvin Penner had put out a reward of five hundred dollars for any useful information. They say their source didn't even take the money - they just wanted to share the information. And it's information COLA desperately needs because it's been trying in vain to gather evidence for its private prosecution. And they say this provides a wealth of information, which indicts Penner, but doesn't meaningfully give them more evidence. Why is that? They explained at a Press conference at the Radisson this morning:..

Geovanni Brackett - President - COLA
"This is actual corruption to the highest level."

Jules Vasquez reporting
It was a part press conference, part rally complete with placards, military type "combat" suits, politicians - and lots of voices raised in outrage:

Geovanni Brackett - President - COLA
"When you are dealing with something as serious as this it's not about media frenzy."

But still, it was a packed press conference - everyone eager to hear what's in the Auditor General's report, but we wouldn't be allowed to see it:

Geovanni Brackett - President - COLA
"COLA is taking on a private prosecution not Channel 7 charade. COLA is taking on a private prosecution and we are answerable to the courts. Our information that has been leak to us is a very serious issue Mr. Vasquez. We have to protect our sources."

And protecting their sources meant reading from a report we couldn't see. A report that they say heaps condemnation on Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse and Director of Immigration Maria Marin:

Geovanni Brackett - President - COLA
"Mrs. Marin consistently found ways to evade request made by the audit department for access to these records. According to the report, she would tell them to go to the minister. The minister has been playing saint in the media claiming to help the process along. But after reading this report it is safe to conclude here at COLA that the minister has been at the very least uncooperative."

They quote the report as referring to more files like Citizen Kim:

Kareem Musa, PUP Candidate
"There were 5 instances involving the very same Elvin Penner issuing passports illegally to 5 different individuals. None of these 5 individuals have ever step foot on Belizean soil before they receive Belizean nationality and a Belizean passport. 2); none of them have permanent resident status. 3); the signatures that were found on the passport application forms did not match their signatures found on legal documents. You can draw your own conclusions as to who signed those passport application forms for those 5 individuals. 4); the nationality certificates for all 5 were back dated and the auditor general's report says back dated by Elvin Penner. In all 5 instances there is an application fee that you have to pay. It is $300 in order for you to get your nationality certificate. You pay that to the government of Belize. You want to know what? None of them paid that $300 into the government coffers. According to Ady Pacheco, Elvin Penner visited the immigration department in September of 2013 and as you all would recall this is around the period when this immigration scandal broke. Penner went in to the immigration department in September of 2013, he waltz in there, requested the Wong Hong Kim immigration file along with others, not just the Kim Wong Hong file but others and he waltz right out of that immigration department with the immigration file in hand. Now I don't know what you all called that, but I consider that to be theft. I consider that to be theft of government property."

"Do you know that when Mr. Penner came and retrieve these files from the immigration department Ady Pacheco prepared a letter, a letter with a list of all the files. Godwin Hulse has in his possession the list of all of the files that Elvin Penner stole."

And they say the report provides them major ammunition:

Kareem Musa, PUP Candidate
"She drew a conclusion as Mr. Brackett said that not only Elvin Penner, but high ranking officials in the immigration department committed offences, committed criminal offences under section 22 of the Belizean nationality act."

Geovanni Brackett - President - COLA
"If this was released earlier COLA would have done two things; we could have laid multiple counts of the similar charges that we've laid on Penner and not only Penner but we could have charged a lot more people."

Kareem Musa, PUP Candidate
"This is confirmation for COLA. This is confirmation for the People's United Party that we are on the right track here. This is the first time and we are hearing it from a government representative that there is an offence to be prosecuted against Mr. Penner."

But, even with that, Musa - who has never - to our knowledge prosecuted a criminal case - it's not enough:

Kareem Musa, PUP Candidate
"This auditor general's report is more like hearsay. So what we would need then is the commissioner of police to deliver up the statements which I am sure that he has statements from Ady Pacheco signed by Ady Pacheco, signed by Gordon Wade that would assist us greatly in the prosecution of these offences."

Ady Pacheco, who is a pivotal Immigration Officer in the auditor generals' report told the auditor General that she felt intimidated by Penner.

The report they have is the preliminary one - and the final version, which is still being prepared, will not be laid on the table at tomorrow's House sitting.

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