So, when we met him this afternoon, we asked Prime Minister Barrow about the disclosures, and he told us that he will have to do his investigation on the document before making any comment:
Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"In another matter, documents have been revealed that John Saldivar and William Mason - there is greater degree of relationship where the company registry shows that...."
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"I've heard something. I've not been briefed on that. It is as the lands matter when you asked me on Thursday I had not been briefed - I have now been briefed and that is what the press conference is about this afternoon. Similarly in terms of what you are saying with respect to Minister Saldivar, as soon as I have been properly briefed I will come to you and deal with that in the same way as I'm going to deal with the lands matter this afternoon."
This evening, the John Saldivar camp sent out a press release which says, quote, "A document which has been a part of the public record at the Companies Registry since August 18th of last year has been circulated in the media as proof of "a business relationship between John Saldivar and William Mason". The thing about this supposedly sensational document is that John Saldivar had disclosed from the time the issue first arose that he and Mr. Mason had entered into an agreement for Mr. Mason to partner with him in the sponsorship of the Belmopan Bandits Football Club. John Saldivar has never denied this fact nor has he denied receiving monies from Mr. Mason for the Belmopan Bandits Football Club solely for the purpose of advancing the sport of football in Belize. This public document actually proves that this was an above board transaction with no hidden agendas. John Saldivar has also said from the inception of this matter that he disassociated himself from Mr. Mason around the end of September, 2015. This disassociation occurred several weeks after the company was registered and was done because John Saldivar became aware of Mr. Mason's possible involvement in fraudulent activities in Canada and Guyana. The existence of this now defunct company simply confirms and validates what John Saldivar has maintained from the very beginning which is that he and Mr. Mason were to be partners in the Belmopan Bandits Football Club. The minute John Saldivar severed ties with Mr. Mason, Mr. Saldivar stopped the process of registering the new company name with FIFA and continued using the original club name the Belmopan Bandits Football and Sporting Club, (not Belmopan Bandits Sporting Club Ltd). Then in December the Club began the process of renaming the organization which now goes by the name Bandits Sports. Though the Bandits Football Club has been using the "Bandits Sports" name since December, 2015 and opened a new Facebook page in January 2016, the Bandits Sports company was not officially registered until August 22, 2016 to meet FIFA registration date. The company registered with Mr. Mason never officially functioned and the allotment of the remaining 9,990 shares was never done because as is now abundantly clear, John Saldivar changed his mind about his partnership with Mr. Mason after hearing about his alleged past. It is hoped that this lays to rest all concerns about the involvement of John Saldivar with Mr. William Mason which has always been strictly about the sport of football for which John Saldivar has a well known and strong affinity.
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