So, while Hulse is cleared of any suggestion that he had a hand in any illicit issuance of passports to suspect figures, yesterday, the Senate Select Committee was interrogating Maria Marin on the most famous illicit passport of them all: Citizen Kim's. There is a portion of the Auditor General's Reports on the Immigration Department that focuses specifically on her audit team's investigation of that scandal. She has published an interview in her reports that her team conducted with a Senior Immigration official, whose comments implicates the Former Acting Director of Immigration.
Here's the Senate's intense inquiry into that part of the report, and the opportunities they gave Marin to respond:
Hon. Aldo Salazar, Chair., Senate Select Committee
"Moving on to paragraph 7.9 on the report. This is being said about you by Mr. Gordon Wade. This is in relation to the Won Hong Kim issue. At this paragraph, the comment is made that Mr. Penner brought in the application without original documentation for Won Hong Kim. Mr. Wade was being interviewed here and he said that the minister indicated that he would take the Won Hong Kim file to you as director. Did you assist Minister Penner in processing the Won Hong Kim application?"
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"No in fact if I could enlighten as I have maintained, the records will show that I was on vacation leave form the 6th of September to the 11th of September. This certificate and the fine.."
Hon. Aldo Salazar, Chair., Senate Select Committee
"You were on vacation from the 6th of September?"
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"2013 to the 11th of September 2013. From the report that I did I was able to ascertain that the Minister was given that file on the 9Th of September. The minister never came to me with that file."
Hon. Aldo Salazar, Chair., Senate Select Committee
"This is Minister Penner?"
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"Minister Penner."
Hon. Aldo Salazar, Chair., Senate Select Committee
"Were you afforded an opportunity to look at the things that were said about you in this interview with Mr. Wade by the audit team?"
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"Except for what I saw in the preliminary report?"
Hon. Aldo Salazar, Chair., Senate Select Committee
"No before the production of any report."
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"No."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"In an interview with Mr. Gordon wade, the officer in command of the nationality section, he was not paying much attention to the date as it was not out of the norm for any minister to bring in incomplete applications and these will go through on the strength of their promise to bring in the missing documents. This was to the knowledge of the director Mrs. Maria Marin. He informed us that ministers are still bringing in applications for individuals even after what has happened in September of 2013."
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"No."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"You did not have any such knowledge?"
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"I did not support that and whenever I was aware of any minister bringing applications or documents especially in the form of first time application, officers knew that they were to advise the minister that the applicant must present himself or herself personally."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"So you had knowledge or you didn't have knowledge? That's what this is saying. This was done with knowledge of director Miss Maria Marin."
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"I was aware of instances yes, but when I became aware of those instances I would reiterate to the officers that the applicants must present themselves personally. We needed to ascertain that those persons are or were in Belize."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"Mr. Wade also alleges that this file was with you, along with a register which reports the acceptance of nationality applications on page 67.9. Were you at any time in position of the citizen Kim file?"
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"Never in position of that file. That word file is referring to the Won Hong Kim file, it is false because I never saw that file in my report. It would have been the counter supervisor in the nationality section Miss Addy Pacheco. The officer in charge Mr. Gordon Wade and Minister Penner who accepted the file on the 9th of September from Miss Pacheco as per that letter. Subsequent to that his signature being on the nationality certificate."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"According to your report, Miss Jones was responsible to ensure that the director had approved the file for further submission to the minister. You're saying you never saw this file, you never approved it and you're claiming that Miss Jones, before sending to the minister, should have verified certain thing? is that correct?"
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"Yes."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"And that she further facilitated irregularities in this case."
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"Yes."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"Would you say that those are illegalities or irregularities?"
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"It's irregular because..."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"Not illegal?"
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"No I don't believe it's illegal."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"Well there's a clear process established on the law for the processing and issuing of these documents, am I correct?"
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"Yes there is."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"A process which these senior officers should have all known."
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"Miss Pacheco and Mr. Wade yes. Miss Jones was a junior officer and that was a part of the process of the steps in preparing the files to be forwarded. That directive or in the norm that instruction would come from the officer in charge of the nationality section. But in my mind this was different because from what I understand, the minister had brought the file to her. I think that was the case."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"So you're saying she may not have known that this was illegal? But certainly the senior officials would have known?"
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"They would have known that they would have needed the directives recommendation before it went to minister, yes."
Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
"Is it that we do not have sanctions on the law for people who breach these laws? That people are not being.."
Maria Marin, Former. Acting Dir, of Immigration
"In my view and in my experience at the department, few if any case of where sanctions would have been recommended or needed actually finalize the process."
As you heard Maria Marin expressed her frustration there were no sanctions or penalties for the Immigration Officers who helped to produce Won-Hong Kim's fraudulent immigration documents. We do note, however, that in March 2014, their attorney wrote a letter to Marin while she was still the Immigration boss. He said, quote, "my clients say that any such misprocedure - as all of Belize knows - was conceived and engineered by Minister of state Elvin Penner acting either personally or through instructions directed at public officers." End quote.
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