In August, we told you how Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington lost a civil appeal at the Caribbean Court of Justice. The court ordered him to hand over land title certificates and other documents for 16 parcels of land which were all purchased at a total value of just over $641,000 Belize dollars.
It's a protracted legal battle that's been ongoing for about 7 years now where he and his former business partners from the company, Progresso Heights Limited, have been in and out of court. Progresso Heights Limited is a Belizean company in which the American father and son, Lawrence and Adam Schneider and Elrington are shareholders. The company acquired 2,000 acres of land in Progresso Village, Corozal.
In 2010, the business relationship between Elrington and the Schneider's went sour after he sued them for allegedly acting improperly and illegally. A few months later, the Schneider's filed a lawsuit against him alleging that their company sent his law firm documents relating to 16 parcels of land. His law firm was to supposed to carry out transfers for these pieces of land, and so, the Schneiders also deposited money into Elrington's bank account to cover the costs of conducting these land transactions.
A check at the Lands Registry shows that the transfers were carried out, but the land certificates for the new owners never found their way to Progresso. As a result, the new owners started threatening Progresso with lawsuits for failing to properly deliver land ownership to them.
From the onset of this case, Elrington insisted that neither he nor his law firm received the documents to carry out the transactions. The courts have since reasoned that his wife most likely received the documents, and someone from the law firm carried out the necessary work at the Lands Department for 8 of the 16 transfers. So, in July of this year, the CCJ ordered Elrington to produce the certificates and other relevant documents for these 16 pieces of land within 30 days.
He insisted that he has no idea where those documents are, and that he was unable to comply with the order of the court. So, today, the principals of Progressive Heights Limited went back before the CCJ to make an application to get the Lands Department to produce new documents for these sales that should have been completed over 8 years ago.
Our News team was at court, and we spoke to both sides after the hearing was over:
Eamon Courtenay, SC - Attorney for Progresso Heights Limited
"Amazingly Mr. Elrington swore an affidavit saying that he doesn't have the documents and that no servant or agent of his has the documents. So, my clients came to court today, asking the court to order that the certificates have been lost, 1; 2, ask the Registrar to issue certificates, and deliver them to my client. We had thought that that was a logical and simple application. Low and behold, last week Friday, Mr. Elrington had his attorney - he goes through the trouble of hiring an attorney now, after he represented himself and lost. He goes to the trouble of finding himself a good attorney to come to court and apply to the court to oppose - listen - to oppose what we had sought from the court. Mr. Elrington, who has lost people's property, who cannot account for people's property, who has taken people's money, and has not returned it to them, when the people came to court at the CCJ level, after he has lost, say, ask the Registrar to give the titles back to the people who are entitled to it, he wanted to come here and oppose it. Fortunately, the judges saw through it. The judges understood what was at play, and the judges made it very clear that they are declaring the titles lost, they insisted, fortunately that the registrar be here. She was actually in court and was questioned by the judges, and she gave the court her assurance that once the order is made, she will publish the notice of lost certificates for 3 weeks, and if nobody comes forward, she will issue the certificates."
Hon. Wilfred Elrington - Respondent
"The court has certain limitations. I maintain that I was never entered into the contract which the case was based, never. I also maintain that no such evidence was before the court, I maintain that. The court found differently, but an examination of the record will show that in fact, no contract was entered into between me and the other side, and we have evidence in court that can establish that, but the legal system is not perfect, and the extent that it is not perfect, it is man controlled, one has to go along with the decision that is taken. Am I happy with it, no, but life is real."
So, the Registrar of Lands will publish notices for 3 weeks requesting for anyone who may be in possession of these missing documents to hand them over. After that, if no one produces them, the old certificates will be canceled and new ones will be issued to the owners of these parcels of land. Those certificates will be handed over to Courtenay's law firm, for its proper delivery to the Schneider's.
The CCJ also awarded costs to the Schneider's for this case at the final level of appeal, and for the courts below.
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