And while that geographically diverse debate took up most of the business of today's house sitting, the PUP members still had plenty to say on the adjournment. That's when they speak on matters of public importance and Toledo East Representative Mike Espat detailed an immigration scam where over a dozen of his constituents form the villages of Bella Vista and Trio had been tricked into paying a thousand dollars for their nationality:...
Hon. Mike Espat, Toledo East Area Rep.
"The 28th October Mr. Prime Minister, 14 approval for nationality was granted by the Immigration Department. The people hat got their nationality came from the village of Trio and Bella Vista and they work on these poor people. They want to be legal in Belize. They all have to pay for a work permit and sometimes they go to extremes to try and achieve what they want and I can't blame them. The price Mr. Prime Minister for each nationality was $1,000. That is the report that we got - $1,000 per nationality. This money was collected and the way it was collected was like a clandestine - they took these people to the Valley of Peace Road - an abandoned road to collect this money. They had a meeting in Independence Village where they were told, this is after they gave them the hard copy of the nationality document. Eden Martinez, the chairman of Bella Vista Village, Juan Martinez was there with them at that meeting and told them that we will now take the hard copy, not knowing that one or two of them decide that they wanted to make photocopies. They did not know that these people made photocopies of those nationality documents. Here is a copy right here. That is one and that's a second one that they copied. So they were then to return to the immigration office. You already paid now $1,000 for your nationality. They now take it away from you, tell you to go to the immigration office to Miss Ana Alpuche and she will in return now give you a residency card."
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"A couple of weeks ago, I had a report from the Minister of Immigration. There was a scam going on and it did involve duping poor villagers from certainly Bella Vista and Trio, but what I was told was that the architect of the scam, the chief schemer who I believe was ultimately detained by the police after the Immigration Minister and some others had the corporation of the villagers and laid a trap for him. But the mastermind I was told was a PUP operative and a close associate member for Toledo East."
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