7 News Belize

Hon. Briceno Denies That Million Dollar Rumour
posted (December 10, 2014)

Last week, we told you about how a family dispute over the late Anthony Gillett ended up with his body being exhumed from his grave a month ago to settle an internal family dispute over his estate. Before his death, he was the driver for PUP Orange Walk Area Representative John Briceno.

His connection to the former Government Minister and Former Leader of the PUP has become significant because the narrative of his exhumation has taken on a life of it's own. It was supposed to have been done so that his family can get a DNA sample to determine the paternity of a child he claimed as his own before his death.

Still, there has been strange but persistent rumours that the Briceno family has a vested interest in the settlement of this dispute about Gillett's estate. The speculation is that Gillett somehow may have had control of certain accounts related to the Briceno family business. And, according to it amounts to as much as 7 million dollars.

That seemingly astronomical dollar figure became the subject of 2 newspaper articles printed by the Guardian and Amandala Newspapers. The issue the writers wanted resolved is, how can a driver amass such a fortune, and so today, we asked John Briceno straight up about those rumours. He responded with incredulity:

Hon. John Briceno, OW Central

"I have absolutely no idea where such a ridiculous story can come out. I want to make it absolutely clear that there's no such thing. I know Anthony when we was alive. We were very close, he grew up with my family, he did not grow up with his family. From a very young age he was with my uncles, that's where he grew up and I have no idea where we would be able to get any 7 million dollars in his name. I could assure you 1,000 percent that he never had not a single dollar much less 7 million dollars on behalf of any member of my family including myself. So when I first heard about the statement, I just found it as the most ridiculous statement ever. I want to make it abundantly clear that there is no one in Belize, no one in this country, no one anywhere in the world that can ever prove that the late Anthony Gillet have any 7 million dollars some where stashed in his name, much less that he is holding it for any member of my family or my friends or anybody that is associated with myself. Certainly for myself he has never ever held no money for me or any asset on my behalf. I would like to state for the record, while we were in government, when there was this scandal where certain Minister's drivers were earning 50 and 60 thousand per year, Anthony was not one of those drivers. He did not participate in any trying to get more overtime than what he was earning. You can look at the ministry of natural resources or where ever to show that Anthony was never a part of that. Again I wish to state this is one of the most ridiculous statement ever and certainly the UDP are becoming desperate when they are trying to grasp a story as ridiculous as this one."

Briceno says that this rumour was calculated as a political attack against him, and those in his constituency, his family, friends and associates don't believe a word of it.

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