They also asked whatever became of the Department’s Public Service Hearings on the officers named in the scandal where South Korean Fugitive Won Hong Kim got Belizean Nationality and a Belize passport, while he was in a Taiwanese jail.

About 3 years ago, we told you about the 3 officers who were brought up before the Public Services Commission on disciplinary charges for that passport that was never supposed to have been issued. We followed the case, and we showed you how those officers were tried, but they were acquitted. 

Today, the Senate asked Saldivar-Morter to explain why, and here’s what she had to say:

Hon. Aldo Salazar - Chairman, Senate Select Committee
"You're familiar with the issue surrounding the Won Hong passport?"

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter - Former, CEO Responsible For Immigration
"Yes and again I took the case to the public service's commission against Ms. Sharon Neal, Mr. Omar Phillips, Mr. Erwin Robinson."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"Mr. Sharon Neal, Mr. Omar Phillips..."

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"And Erwin Robinson, the 3 officers who were working at the passport section at the time."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"Mark Tench wasn't involved, wasn't taken in relation to that one."

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"No, no, no, it was Mr. Erwin, Mr. Phillips.."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"What about a Ms. Ady Pacheco?"

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"No because they weren't involved in the passport - because we dealt with it in terms of the passport issuance."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"Sorry the passport itself."

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
“Yes we dealt with it in terms of the passport issuance because we did not have sufficient evidence to take the nationality section, the officers that dealt with it at the nationality section in front of the commission. But we took the officers in terms of the issuance of the passport.â€￾

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"I asked specifically about - so you did take the matter against these individuals to the commission for disciplinary action?"

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"Yes sir I did."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"In relation to the Won Hong Kim issue."

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"And I sat on those case personally, both the Mark Tench one with the 8 stickers and the one with the-"

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"When you say you sat on it personally-"

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"I went in front of the commission and took the case."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"To put forward the case for the department."

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"Yes sir."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"What were you recommending for disciplinary action, did you recommend anything for disciplinary action against them? In the case of Mark Tench you previously said you recommended that he be charged."

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"In terms of the other 3 officers we are looking at dismissal."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"You wanted to have the dismissed?"

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"Yes sir. Due to some technicality the case was thrown out by the commission."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
“Can you say what the technicality was?â€￾

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
“There was a memo issued by the then director which I was not aware of at the time when I took up the case which kind of had the whole case thrown out because-â€￾

Hon. Mark Lizarraga - Business Senator
“And who was the director?â€￾

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
“The director at the time was Ms. Marin.â€￾

Hon. Aldo Salazar
“Okay so your intention was to have them dismissed from the department?â€￾

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"Yes sir."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
“For their role in the Won Hong Kim-â€￾

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
“Passport issuance, yes sir.â€￾

Hon. Aldo Salazar
“Do you know if any reference was made to the police, a criminal investigation against them?â€￾

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"The police was involved against those officers, no because that was kind of administrative; the issuance of the passport was more administrative."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
“The police was involved-â€￾

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
"The police was involved in terms of the nationality of the issuance of the nationality but that still has not yet been finalised as far as I can remember."

Hon. Aldo Salazar
"And I ask you specifically about, sorry senator..."

Hon. Dr. Carla Barnett, UDP Senator
"The issue of the technicality, can you explain to me what the technicality-"

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
“I cannot recall at this time, the memo that the council for Ms. Marin presented but it was contrary to what we knew were the procedures in the issuance of the passport and the check and balance that had to be in place and it had changed without my knowledge and I wasn’t aware of it until the memo was presented by the council for Ms. Neal and that throw everything.â€￾

Hon. Aldo Salazar
“So it was advertend-â€￾

Candelaria Saldivar-Morter
“Yes because we were saying one thing and the memo said something else.â€￾

She also told the Senate that the Ministry did not go after the officers who were involved in the issuance of the Nationality document because the Department did not provide them with the evidence needed.