David Nanes Shnitzer was caught on San Pedro on November third, the day before General Elections. He was taken to court on November sixth and charged for uttering on a forged driver's license. He was remanded to prison and got ten thousand dollars Supreme Court bail two weeks later - despite the fact that his passport had been revoked two days earlier on November the 18th. He hasn't been seen since.
It's caused consternation in Mexico where authorities there wanted Nanes Shnitzer for defrauding investors of 42 million dollars. Mexico has a 2011 warrant for his arrest for unauthorized securities transactions. Belize was supposed to hold him until both sides could get through the paperwork to get him over to Mexico.
The Mexicans have made their displeasure known by sending the government of Belize two diplomatic notes of protest. But, what is lesser known is the involvement of the Americans. Their US Marshals are the ones who - working with San Pedro police - captured Nanes Shnitzer on San Pedro. They had reportedly been on the island for three weeks trying to track him down.
And that's probably because Nanes Shntizer was a part of the US based Allen Stanford Ponzi Scheme. Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in the US for defrauding investors of 7 billion dollars.
So today when I had a chance to speak to the US Ambassador Carlos Moreno in Belmopan - I asked him what's the position of his embassy. The former judge said they are very disappointed:
Carlos Moreno, US Ambassador
"I don't have any details as to how it's being handle currently, but I can just say that as a judge for 25 years I am extremely disappointed that bail was set in such a low amount and that he was release with those conditions. It's clearly a case involving an indictment by the Mexican Department of Justice and not the United States. All we did was assist in making the connection between his false name and his true name. But that was the extent of our involvement. But again, based on my experience and the fugitive recovery over the years, he will be apprehended at some point and I think justice will ultimately be served."
Later on in the news - we'll have highlites of the Senate Debate on whether it should launch a probe into the curious circumstances surrounding the issuance of a fraudulent passport to Nanes Schnitzer four years ago.
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