The 58 year old was released on bail when he appeared before Chief Justice Antonette Moore at the Supreme Court this morning.

Director of Public Prosecutions Chery-Lynn Vidal objected strongly to the granting of bail, stressing that Paumen is a flight risk and there is a danger of interfering with witnesses. But his attorney Ellis Arnold argued that remand should be a last resort and stressed that there was sufficient provision under the criminal code to grant bail to a person charged for Abetment of Murder with appropriate conditions. Justice Moore agreed and she released Paumen on $50 thousand dollars bail - which is quite small for a man with assets valued in the millions. He has to surrender all his travel documents, and specifically surrender his US passport to the court, the US Embassy has to be notified, and he must report to the Belmopan police station every Wednesday and Friday while the matter is pending. And one last thing: he is not to interfere with witnesses nor be in the presence of witnesses.

The Prosecution suggested that they intend to bring another charge against Paumen in a few days.

So…that's what happened in court today, but here's what's been happening with Paumen. Police believe that he hired a hitman to kill Modiri, his bodyguard Paul Wade, a former employee of his who switched allegiance to Modiri, and Modiri's attorney. It all stems form the fact that that Paumen owns and operates Dark Night Limited in Frank's Eddy Village. The access road to his property runs through Modiri's property. Government had made a compulsory acquisition of it because Paumen had a contract with NICH, but the court ruled that they had acquired it improperly, and cancelled the acquisition. So, the investigation suggests that Paumen needed to get Modiri out of the way. So, the witness statements tell police that on December 11th Paumen hired a hitman to kill all four of them.

Now, Modiri alleges, and police have evidence to support this - that it all started when Paumen's agent - a mechanic - planted a gun in Modiri's car so that he would be arrested. Modiri was arrested but started to investigate what he was sure was a plot against him - and it led to Paumen.