Tomorrow the Senate Hearings on Immigration promises to be hot since former UDP Minister, Elvin Penner, will show up and testify. It will be the first time that he will take questions on the Citizen Kim passport scandal of 2013.
We are told Penner plans to open with a statement after which the Senate will have a lot to ask him. And while we look forward to that….one more former UDP Minister who may have to someday defend himself is Carlos Perdomo. He's the current Cabinet Secretary, and a former Minister of Immigration whose name was called dozens of times in the Auditor General's Reports on Immigration, and it has also come up in the hearings.
Retired immigration officer, Therese Chavarria, went before the Senate 2 weeks ago to recount how she flagged a suspect passport application, only to have her bosses override her instructions and issue a passport anyway.
According to the Auditor General's passport report, in May 2011, a man who identified himself as Paul Ku, went to the Belize City passport office when Chavarria was the officer in charge. He was attempting to apply for a Belize passport, and he was accompanied by Justice of the Peace, Rina Chiu Hsiang Lo, a naturalized Belizean. This woman attempted to get him through the passport application, but officer Chavarria became suspicious when the man couldn't speak a word of English during the interview.
She told the Senate that she investigated the passport and had strong reasons to suspect that there was fraud and forgery involved. She said that Hsiang Lo tried to bribe her after making several attempts to convince her that the birth certificate for Paul Ku was authentic.
Chavarria went on holiday, after instructing her subordinates not to process the application. When she came back, this woman, described as a sort of agent, had gotten another birth certificate, and another application was put forward, for another officer to process. That passport was eventually issued to Paul Ku.
So, why is Perdomo being associated with this case? Well, the Auditor General's investigations say that he instructed the then Immigration Director Ruth Meighan to process the passport. The Auditor General made a direct recommendation for police to quezon him and his name appears in the passport report 88 times. But over 6 years ago when Jules Vasquez asked him about those who come asking for favours, here's what he said:
Jules Vasquez
"Unwittingly as Minister Of National Security And Immigration formerly Minister Of National Security that you have unwittingly issued visas to persons who have no legitimate interest in visiting Belize and are simply using it for a springboard unto United States?"
Hon. Carlos Perdomo, Minister of Immigration
"I suspect that we would have cases like that."
Jules Vasquez
"From the early 90s right up to the present day immigration ministers have numerous times been called into question."
Hon. Carlos Perdomo, Minister of Immigration
"And you are right, at present I am being called into question and that is why I am here trying to give more information so that people are aware that there is a legal way to do it and there is definitely an illegal way to do it. Even though there will be allegations I will repeat that from me personally I will not get involved in that kind of thing where somebody come to visit you for this or that, or facilitate things or for gain, or things like that. It will have to happen below me and I think we saw that. The stricter we get the more the network of people who deal with that kind of business go down."
Jules Vasquez
"But minister I have a sense of how things work, people must reach out to you and say, 'Minister I would want your help with so and so.'"
Hon. Carlos Perdomo, Minister of Immigration
"Yes they do and I usually direct them to the director. But you are right, I have been given gifts that I have asked them to take back, they don't ask you outright, but you know. So twice I have been offered gifts and I send them out of the office."
Jules Vasquez
"Are you able to say what kind of gifts? Cash gifts or like a suitcase or what?"
Hon. Carlos Perdomo, Minister of Immigration
"No its more like 2 bottles of whiskey and then the invitation for other things later so it's not like cash but it's like, 'help me and I'll...' But I have been able to resist that."
Jules Vasquez
"But it's a normal process in politics that politicians....."
Hon. Carlos Perdomo, Minister of Immigration
"You are right and sometimes after they hear that you strict they send your friend or they send a cousin or a nephew that they know that I have a good relationship with and like that."
Jules Vasquez
"But you are saying you resisted all these."
Hon. Carlos Perdomo, Minister of Immigration
"So far."
The Auditor General says that that her team interviewed him on this particular case, and he was asked about his relationship with Rina Chiu Hsiang Lo, he said, quote, "She is in Caribbean Shores and lives on the Northern Highway. She is a good friend of mine, and I got to know her when I was getting involved in politics." End quote
He was asked about his involvement in this application and he reportedly said, quote "I do not think I directed anything in regard to passport. My style is not to direct too much. I would send a note to Ruth Meighan asking for her to kindly assist for nationality in regard to people who came to the Ministry for help…" End quote.
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