This morning in Burrell Boom, officials from the Ministry of Forest, the University of Belize and Panthera, as well as other representatives from various environmental groups, gathered for the signing of a memorandum of understanding to protect the habitat, as well as the biological corridor traversed by jaguars and their prey.  News Five’s Duane Moody was on hand for the adoption.

Duane Moody, Reporting

An official commitment, a memorandum of understanding, was signed today between the Government of Belize, Panthera and the University of Belize to pledge a joint effort in developing a cooperative framework to establish and protect biological corridors and core areas that function as habitat for jaguars and their prey in Belize. Dr. Elma Kay, of UB’s Environmental Research Institute, says that the process started back in December of last year.

Elma Kay

Dr. Elma Kay, Environmental Research Institute, University of Belize

“Since December of last year, we embarked on a process with key stakeholders to develop a management plan for the Central Belize Corridor area. A corridor is basically an area that allows the passageway from our large protected area blocks and also connects us to the bigger forest like the Celba Maya, which we share with Mexico and Guatemala. So the work that we are doing to balance the development that is happening in the area, with maintaining the function of the corridor to maintain the healthy population of animals like oru iconic jaguar, goes beyond Belize.”

Back in 2012, several acres of the jaguar corridor was grazed by Green Tropics.  The Spanish company intended to build a sugar factory, along with a refinery and cane fields, complemented with an energy generation component. But its operations were put on hold for dredging a canal forty to fifty feet wide and close to four miles long through the Labouring Creek Jaguar Corridor Wildlife Sanctuary. Minister of Forest, Lisel Alamilla, also addressed the gathering.

Lisel Alamilla, Minister of Forest

Lisel Alamilla

“It would be really unfortunate for our protected area systems if we were to lose the corridors because without connectivity then we would have these animals isolated and weaken their chances of survival. In talking to Doctor Allen and hear him speak yesterday, he really reminded us how important we as a country are in ensuring the survival of the jaguar species and I think that we need to rally behind the ERI, Panthera and those from my ministry who are on the ground, doing the work to do the conservation action plan and to do the implementation of that plan. Developing the plan is just the beginning; it is actually implementing it and making the actions happen on the ground.”

Alan Rabinowitz

Panthera, leaders in wild cat conservation, is an entity dedicated to the conservation of wild cat species and their habitats and has a long history of jaguar conservation efforts in Belize and the Mesoamerican region. Belize is one of eighteen countries signing MOUs to maintain the jaguar corridor.

Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, C.E.O., Panthera

“Your piece of the jaguar corridor, as small as it might seem when you look at map from Mexico through Argentina is actually a very special piece of the jaguar corridor. You have some of the wildest jungle I have seen remaining throughout the jaguar range. You have some of the best jaguar populations. Belize has some of the densest jaguar population in the world living with people; help in creating an ecotourism industry and showing how jaguars and local communities can live together.”

Duane Moody for News Five.

Making Tourism Benefit Communities Adjacent to Archeological Sites…It is a project that is the brainchild of the Belize Tourism Board, the National Institute of Culture and History and the European Union to enhance the product and services offered to tourists and visitors to Mayan ruins throughout the country. Two consultants are currently here in the country—a crafts and a tourism expert—to conduct a workshop with artisans. It is a welcoming gesture for the artisans says Andrea Mendez, because it teaches them how to better their product and bolster the marketing skills of participants who live near archeological sites. According to Product Development Specialist, Daniela Viscarra of Bolivia, the Belizean artisans have the talent and skills and the workshop is just to take them to an international standard.

Daniela Viscarra

Daniela Viscarra, Product Development Specialist

“What we did before was an assessment in December and we realized all the talent and the incredible potential that Belize artisans have. And so we are developing the project in terms of raising the quality of the products, the exhibition of the products because the talent and the quality is there, but they need to portray it in a better way what they are producing. And then making the artisans in Belize more marketable and more present for the people because sometimes it is a little confusing where the products are coming from.”

Andrea Mendez

Andrea Mendez, Artisan

“Me and my husband are involved in the wood carvings and we are from Altun Ha; that’s our major point that we sell our carvings to the cruise ships and overnight visitors. From the training, it is just a few days, but I get a lot from it. First of all, I learn that there is help to improve our product right here in Belize through BELTRAIDE and other organizations. And from our visitors they are teaching us and trying to take us to that international standard which is something that we wanted years ago. Through this program and training that I’m getting, I’m learning a lot of how to improve the same product that we make and how to make new ones…lot of ideas to make the new ones to meet international standards.”

Duane Moody

“How do you make whatever craft that you do unique to your country without of course losing the history behind it and of course not mistaking it with other countries?”

Daniela Viscarra

“Well it is a challenge because we want to sell our culture and we want to sell what we do as artisans and as creative people, but at the same time, we need to reach a market and the market is very competitive and needs to be current and updated with all the fashion styles and all the homemade styles in the world because the main tourists that come here, the main market for the artisans here are tourists from Canada, U.S., Europe. So the main challenge is to reach both in knowledge…what they are capable of, what their identity are as artisans as part of a unique ethnical group and portray that in products that are  actually functional and appealing for our current market.”

This morning Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin granted permission for Judicial Review on the matter of the Opposition Leader Francis Fonseca's request for the Supreme Court to order a Writ of Mandamus which would force the Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie to prosecute United Democratic Party Cayo North East Area Representative Elvin Penner for corruption.

Last year, Penner illegally signed nationality and passport documents and personally facilitated their issuance on behalf of a South Korean swindler Kim Won Hong who was at a prison in Taiwan awaiting extradition for embezzlement and fraud charges.

Allegations are that Penner was well compensated for his role in the immigration scam.

The U.D.P Government has continuously obstructed Penner's prosecution despite the evidence and Prime Minister Dean Barrow has publicly stated he sees no criminal wrongdoing.

On February 10th, Hon. Fonseca through his attorney Senior Counsel Edwin Flowers, wrote a letter to Commissioner Allen Whylie advising that if no prosecution commenced within seven days, they would turn to the Supreme Court. The ComPol has not responded or even acknowledged receipt of the letter.

Dean Barrow

The P.U.P. chose this less travelled route of seeking a writ of Mandamus because the party has maintained that it has exhausted all other options, legal and political. But is there another option? At a press conference last week Prime Minister Dean Barrow scoffed at the P.U.P. plan to seek judicial review, saying their case has absolutely no merit. The P.M. went so far as to call it political showboating, stating that if the Opposition were serious, they would proceed with a private prosecution instead of grandstanding.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow [File: February 17^th, 2014]

“And I think furthermore proof positive that this is political grandstanding is had when you refer to the fact that the P.U.P., the Opposition, is able to mount a private prosecution. If they feel so strongly that there is evidence to justify a prosecution, lodge a private prosecution. That’s perfectly in order, it’s their entitlement. The D.P.P. could, if that is done, intervene if she thinks that it is without merit, but that is most unlikely given the comments that I hear attributed to the D.P.P. So why don’t they just proceed with a private prosecution.”

Francis Fonseca

Francis Fonseca, P.U.P. Leader

“When you ask me that I am reminded of the Amandala editorial which referred to the Prime Minister as making a public fool of himself, and when he made those comments he was once again making a public fool of himself. It is not for the Opposition to carry out an investigation into Penner. The entire country is demanding that he does his job. He is the Prime Minister of this country. He is charged with the responsibility of upholding the rule of law in this country. It is his responsibility. So for him to suggest that we must carry out some private action is absolute nonsense, and again the question is…why is he refusing to do his job….why is he refusing? Why is he continuing to protect Penner? Why is he continuing to protect other people who are alleged to be involved in this U.D.P. immigration scandal? We have exhausted every option available to us. We have asked the government to carry out the investigation, to carry out a Senate inquiry and investigation and they have refused, they have blocked that. We have called on the Commissioner of Police to carry out an investigation. He has refused to answer. So we are left with no other option but to go to the courts and force them to carry out an investigation into this matter, and that is what this application is all about. We are not in a position to call Mr. Penner and get evidence from Mr. Penner and to summon the Prime Minister and to get evidence from him and to question him and to question Mr. Hulse and all of these other individuals and to question the public officers involved. The Commissioner of Police can do that.”

In the immigration scandal, three public officers have been suspended from work and appear before the Services Commission last week. Their fate will be known at a later date. 

The People’s United Party wants former Minister of State Elvin Penner to be held criminally liable for his role in the Won Hong Kim passport scandal. Just as vehemently, the United Democratic Party has shielded Penner from any criminal scrutiny. The P.U.P. tried the recall petition, and that was blocked by the Elections and Boundaries Department. The P.U.P. tried to implore Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie to initiate criminal proceedings against Penner, and they were ignored by Whylie. So now, the P.U.P. is asking the Supreme Court to step in and direct the ComPol to do what they are calling his duty and obligation. It’s a giant leap, but today the party was given leave to take the first step. Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin this morning ruled that the party is allowed to seek judicial review. For P.U.P. leader, Francis Fonseca, it is victory of sorts, but bittersweet nonetheless.

Francis Fonseca, P.U.P. Leader

Francis Fonseca

“We are very pleased that we have crossed the first hurdle. Today was an application seeking leave from the court to apply for judicial review of what we view as the Commissioner of Police’s refusal to carry out an investigation into this matter. So we are very, very pleased that we have crossed that first hurdle. The Chief Justice has ruled and granted leave for us to pursue this matter further. He has ruled and ordered that the matter will be heard on Friday at ten o’clock so we are to file our application today by four o’clock. The respondent, the Commissioner of Police, has until tomorrow afternoon at four pm to respond to our application and then the matter has been set down for hearing as I said on Friday at ten o’clock. Today is a sad day for the rule of law in Belize. It’s a sad day for democracy and frankly I am very angry that we have reached to this very low point when we in the People’s United Party have had to come to court to effectively seek to force the government of the day, to force the state and the Commissioner of Police to act in the best interest of the Belizean people. It is the sworn duty and obligation of the Commissioner of Police to investigate any matter where there is evidence of criminal activity. The entire country has been speaking out on this matter for more than five months. It has been more than five months since this matter came to the public eye, and there has not been any investigation of Mr. Penner’s conduct. There has not been any investigation into this U.D.P. immigration scandal and so while we are pleased with the decision today, we have to be sad that we have reached this low point.”

Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl Lynn-Vidal has been named as an interested party in the application for judicial review. The hearing is set for Friday.

Dean Barrow

Shortly after receiving a copy of that damning memo, News Five contacted D.P.P. Cheryl Lynn-Vidal for comment. She was livid about the leak and had absolutely nothing to say about the memo. But she did say that if somebody in the Police Department would see it fit to leak a document which is plainly marked confidential, then it should be something which the Commissioner of Police should take steps to deal with immediately. At the moment, the Commissioner of Police has his hands full, but we managed to get comment from Prime Minister Dean Barrow today. We asked him if he was aware of the communication from the D.P.P. to the head of the National Crimes Investigation Branch.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow 

“No I’m not, but I will certainly familiarize myself with it. I can’t believe that that’s accurate. Still I don’t doubt you and so let me check into it and I wish you pursue it with the investigating officer. Ask him who the hell, if somebody did give him that instruction, ask him who the hell did. I would certainly like to know because that is the sort of thing that we don’t countenance at all.”

Mike Rudon

“That is what the D.P.P. is asking sir; she has it right here. That is what the D.P.P. is asking the police to please find out who instructed this gentleman to…”

Prime Minister Dean Barrow 

“Well indeed, if indeed such an instruction was given, I too would want to know who gave such an instruction. I am not accepted that it was; I simply don’t know, but if it was, we need to get to the bottom of that.”

News Five has been unable to contact ASP Julio Valdez for verification, but we’ll keep trying.

The memo from the D.P.P. queries whether the police intends to proceed with an investigation to determine if anyone can be charged for immigration irregularities. News Five has also obtained a comprehensive dossier on two separate internal investigations that were conducted on the immigration scandal that continue to hold the attention of the nation since last year September. It includes a copy of Penner’s signed recommendation in which in his own handwriting he claims to have known Won Hong Kim for three years and that their specific relationship was that they were friends. That same document shows a passport size picture of Kim even though he on September third, 2013 was in jail. We have also obtained copies of the Belize passport application allegedly filled out by Kim on the very same September third, 2013. Again Kim could not been physically present at the Immigration Department to fill out the application and provide photos while he was imprisoned in another continent. We’ll have much more on this in Friday’s newscast.

It is almost six months since former Minister of State with responsibility for Immigration Elvin Penner was removed from Cabinet for his role in the illegal issuance of a passport to South Korean fugitive sitting in a Taiwanese jail. There have been allegations of multiple investigations, but a scarcity of any information. And what information there has been is devoid of any mention of Penner. Tonight, there is explosive new evidence which gives insight into the protection afforded to the disgraced Minister of State. That evidence, a confidential memo from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, was leaked to News Five late today. From our perspective, it gives credibility to speculation about a widespread cover up of what really happened in the Immigration Department. Mike Rudon has that story.

Mike Rudon, Reporting

News Five has received a leaked copy of this memo, dated February twentieth, from Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl Lynn-Vidal to the head of the National Crimes Investigation Branch. The memo is, quite frankly, damning, but it sheds valuable insight on what has seemed to be absolute protection of former Minister of State Elvin Penner, and perhaps other high-ranking U.D.P. politicians.

In the memo the D.P.P. is responding to a request by the Police for her perusal and advice on the investigation into the Immigration Department. The tone is set early, when the D.P.P. states that she has perused the files, but states, “I am in an utter quandary on what advice I can possibly render.”

The D.P.P. notes that the investigation seems to have been centered on how immigration files were leaked from the Department of Immigration, rather than around the actual contents of the files. That, of course, comes as no surprise to anybody who has been following the so-called Police investigation.

In fact, says the D.P.P., none of the files provided by Mr. Saldivar have even been included, which means that she has not been privy to them. From her next comments, it is clear that the holding back of those files was deliberate, rather than an oversight.

In what is an astonishing and disturbing disclosure, the D.P.P. refers to a statement by the investigating officer, ASP Julio Valdez. Valdez wrote, “after the documents were examined, it was observed that several nationalities were approved by Immigration to individuals without meeting the criteria for approval, yet they were processed and approved.”

To borrow the PM’s words, that is most certainly a smoking gun, but what follows next is the bullet itself. ASP Valdez continues to state that, “after follow up was done on this and questions asked about these discrepancies, this line of the investigation did not continue, due to instructions, no other follow was made. It remained as is.”

From the tone of the memo, the D.P.P. was not amused, and asks immediately for the source of those instructions. She states that, quote – “the information on the file suggests that offences may have been committed at the Immigration Department. I am unable to advise further since no files have been forwarded and the investigation in relation to that issue at least, according to the Officer’s own words, was halted,” end quote.

The D.P.P. ends by asking the N.C.I.B. to indicate whether the Belize Police Department will proceed with an investigation to determine whether anyone can be charged for the irregularities identified by Valdez. She also asks that the files be forwarded to her for a proper assessment. Mike Rudon for News Five.

Allen Whylie

We’ve presented to you the judicial review hearing in a nutshell, but there was much more of interest coming out of today’s proceedings. Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie was missing in action after being given seven days to answer a letter asking him to investigate Elvin Penner. He refused all calls for interviews with the media. But he was in court today and was the last to emerge from the courtroom with his attorney, Deputy Solicitor General Nigel Hawke. The media was anxious to get some comment from him on several critical and extremely pertinent issues, like the D.P.P.’s explosive memo, for example. But it was not to be. Whylie emerged from the courtroom and pushed his way through the media blockade, refusing to give any comment. Of note is that for the first time, it was officially revealed that Commissioner Whylie is the man who made the decision that there would be no criminal investigation into former Minister of State Elvin Penner. In the courtroom, attorney Nigel Hawke made that distinction crystal clear no less than five times. That makes Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie, to borrow police terminology, a person of interest – in the middle of a political mess.

We reported on Thursday night that we have a dossier of the immigration scandal, as it relates to the issuance of a passport to Won Hong Kim in September 2013. The documents are voluminous and telling and we will walk you through some of the irregularities we picked out during perusal of the documents. We note that in the Supreme Court today, in an application for a mandamus action brought by the People’s United Party to direct the ComPol to investigate and bring charges against former minister Penner, that ComPol Allen Whylie, informed the court that he has a discretion under the Police Act to decide whether or not to investigate a matter and that he decided not to investigate the Penner matter.  The documents available to News Five do not support Whylie’s defense for which we will present the following five reasons.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

The law governing passport applications requires that the applicant, if he is applying in Belize, personally presents himself at the Immigration Department for the purposes of being photographed and fingerprinted so that this vital information can be embedded in the passport. A person did appear at the Immigration Department accompanied by Minister Penner, who has admitted in an email to taking Kim to the department on September third 2013. It turns out that this is false.

Minister Penner then informed the immigration officer that the person along with him was Kim, as it turned out that person was a decoy because Kim was in a Taiwanese jail at the time. This was clearly an intention to deceive immigration officials. Secondly, the information provided to the immigration officer, by way of the passport application, also turns out to be false and falsified for the following reasons.  Minister Penner personally handed the passport application form to the immigration officer. This form shows it as having been signed by Kim and dated third of September. This again is false since Kim was in jail.  The questions arise, who filled out the form?  Who signed it and dated it September third, 2013?  The answer to these questions may very well lie in Penner’s Declaration of Recommender Form.  First, to the handwriting on the passport application; you will see the name KIN, not KIM, an error which Kim would clearly not make. A closer look at the letter “n” and the several “n’s” appearing in the rest of the document, show them to be exactly alike to the “n’s” on Penner’s recommendation filled out and signed by Penner himself.  It is a criminal offense to forge immigration documents; it is also a criminal offense to falsify immigration formation. It is also a criminal offense for Penner to take a person into the Immigration Department and pretend in front of immigration officials that individual was Won Hong Kim.

Minister Penner can also be charged for aiding and abetting and conspiracy to commit fraud and falsification of information.  There is a fifth criminal offense that can be brought against Penner because he signed confirming that all the false information was “true and correct to the best of his knowledge and belief.”

All told, COMPOL Whylie’s argument in the Supreme Court is not substantiated by the facts borne in the documents available to him and his officers.  And this is only some of the information we have perused so far.

The pressure to have the man who apparently masterminded the Won Hong Kim passport fraud criminally investigated and charged refuses to go away, despite government’s best efforts. And it is building rapidly. Wherever former Minister of State Elvin Penner was today, his ears must have been ringing. The P.U.P. requested and received permission this week to seek judicial review of Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie, whom they believe has deliberately abrogated his constitutional duty to investigate Penner. The full hearing for judicial review was held this morning, before a packed courtroom of political spectators, interested observers and attorneys. Mike Rudon was there and has the following story.

Mike Rudon, Reporting

This morning a politically motivated crowd stood across the street today with placards and verbal punishment for former Minister of State Elvin Penner and government. Inside the courtroom Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin heard submissions from attorneys for the claimant, Francis Fonseca, and the respondent, Commissioner of Police Whylie.

Legal proceedings are generally incomprehensible to common folk, but arguments today were easy to follow and lasted less than two and a half hours. In a nutshell, the claimant states that ComPol Whylie should be instructed to criminally investigate Penner. They want him to also question the PM, the Minister of Immigration and the Director of Immigration. And finally, they want him to criminally charge Penner.

Whylie’s attorney, Deputy Solicitor-General Nigel Hawke, is arguing that the Court should not interfere with the duties of the Executive, in this case ComPol Whylie. Further, he states that a writ of mandamus is pertinent only when no action has been taken, and the Court is then used to force such action. That is not necessary here, says Hawke, because the Commissioner has acted. He has reviewed the matter and has determined that there is no need to investigate. And that’s it, in a neat little package.

At twelve thirty today all parties emerged from the courtroom as the CJ announced that he would deliver his judgment on Monday at eleven thirty. Claimant Francis Fonseca was one of the first out.

Francis Fonseca

Francis Fonseca, P.U.P. Leader

“What is very important and what is very clear from today’s proceedings is that the government of Belize….this U.D.P. government represented today by the Deputy Solicitor General and the Commissioner of Police made it clear that there will be no investigation into this matter as far as they are concerned. For the first time the Belizean people have heard, and it is only because we forced them to come to Court…for the first time the Commissioner of Police has said that he will not investigate this matter. He has made that determination, that decision. And we want to know on whose instructions he has made that decision. That is an important matter, because as you know, as the Belizean people saw on the evening news last evening, there was a leaked memo from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions which revealed very clearly that there was an investigation started, and that investigation was halted on instructions.”

The memo Fonseca is referring to is this one – a bombshell which verifies that indeed the investigation into the real corruption in Immigration by the Police Department was halted. The investigator states that he actually found instances where persons received nationality certificates without proper qualifications – evidence of criminality for sure – but instead of dealing with those illegalities as the Police should, he was shockingly told to cease and desist from the investigation.

Francis Fonseca

“It is a very damning memorandum. It is very, very, very serious when the Director of Public Prosecutions who is charged with the responsibility for laying criminal charges in this country…when the Director of Public Prosecutions is asking the Belize Police Department to respond and say who instructed you to cease investigating this matter. The DPP is asking that. And in fact the DPP is saying where are the files…where are the files that I need if I am going to carry out an investigation provide me with the files from the Immigration Department. Don’t ask me just to look at a private individual…you say files went missing and you want me to look at that…give me the files that concern Mr. Penner and others. Where are the files in respect of Won Hong Kim? Where are those files? Those have not been submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions.”

The Prime Minister has said that evidence of corruption by his ministers in Immigration could very well bring down the government. In one of those very rare occasions of accord, Fonseca agrees with him completely.

Francis Fonseca

“Everybody is united in this country in wanting an investigation into this matter. You’ve heard it over and over. The churches, the unions, the business community, everybody is demanding an investigation into this matter. And who is standing in the way? Who has come here to court today to defend Mr. Penner once again, to prevent even an investigation? We are not finding the guilt or innocence…we are not assuming guilt or innocence. We are simply asking on behalf of the country that the government or the state carry out its duty, that the Police department carry out its duty to investigate this matter. I am saying to the people of this country today – this is Pennergate, this is Pennergate. The cover-up is getting even worse than the initial crime, and I am saying to the people of this country, this matter will bring down Mr. Barrow’s government…it will bring down his government.”

That, of course, remains to be seen, since while corruption certainly has seemed to rear its ugly head, the Prime Minister seems unwilling to use the word. His word of choice is now ‘distasteful.’ Mike Rudon for News Five.

According to the Belize Tourism Board (BTB)’s final figures for the last calendar year 2013, Belize’s overnight arrivals were up 6.1% and cruise tourist arrivals by 5.7%.

In a press release issued today, the BTB reported that there were a total of 223,510 recorded tourist arrivals at the Philip Goldson International Airport (PGIA) in 2013 – an increase of 5.5% over the previous year.

Airport arrivals peaked in March, when 28,623 visitors flew to Belize. According to the BTB, this represents a 10.2% increase over March 2012.

The month with the largest increase of airport arrivals in 2013, though, was August, which recorded a 10.5 percent increase when compared to August 2012.

BTB’s Director of Marketing and Industry Relations, Alyssa Carnegie, says: “As we enjoy the highs of 2013, we anticipate that this year we will see even more growth, not just in the tourist arrivals, but also in the development and investments in Belize.”

What is being called a miscommunication between the Belize Defense Force and the police department resulted in the brief detention of several armed officers who crossed into Belizean territory at the northern border last Friday. The incident occurred prior to a high-level meeting held between B.D.F. officials and members of the Mexican military and caused a stir up north.  The entry into the country by armed Mexican military can be considered a breach of Belize’s sovereignty, based on the Geneva Convention which prohibits foreign military from entering another territory equipped with weapons.  According to Corozal police, upon being notified by security at the Commercial Free Zone, they responded to an area adjacent to the Golden Princess Casino, where they observed four officers traveling in a black Chevy Tahoe.  The men were reportedly handcuffed and their firearms confiscated before the matter could have been cleared up by the brass of the B.D.F.  We are told that the meeting was being held in San Pedro.  The incident raises serious concerns as to whether armed Belizean officers would be treated similarly if caught in Mexico.

Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl-Lynn Vidal dropped an inadvertent bombshell last week, in the form of a memo to the National Crimes Investigation Branch. In that memo Vidal quotes from a report by Police investigator A.S.P. Julio Valdez. Valdez makes the shocking revelation that he found discrepancies in the Immigration Department during his investigation, but he was instructed not to pursue that avenue. Nobody has been able to find out who issued those instructions, and honestly it appears that nobody has made much of an attempt to do so. News Five has managed to obtain a copy of just three of those discrepancies found by Valdez before he was called off the case. Just as he did for Won Hong Kim, Elvin Penner plays a starring role in obtaining nationality certificates for three other Asian nationals. Meet Vietnamese national turned brand new Belizeans Quoc Vinh Truong…Taiwanese national Yiu Pang Chen and Chinese national Jack Jie Qin. All three were given Belizean nationality on the same day, May eighteenth, 2013. All three nationality certificates were signed by then Minister of State with responsibility for immigration, Elvin Penner. Normally these certificates wouldn’t be cause for scrutiny. After all, it was Penner’s official duty to sign such nationality certificates for new Belizeans. But like Won Hong Kim, these three persons did not qualify for nationality. Lead investigator, Assistant Superintendent of Police Julio Valdez, allegedly made inquiries into the three persons to determine when they came to Belize. On October thirty-first, 2013, Valdez received a letter from PGIA Port Commander Debra Baptist Estrada confirming that Chen, Qin and Truong entered Belize on April tenth 2013. Estrada attached the flight manifest as additional evidence, proving that all three came in on United Flight 1407. Chen, Qin and Truong arrived in Belize on April tenth…yet one month after, on May eighteenth, all three became citizens of Belize. Truong, a Vietnamese national and Chen, a Taiwanese national, both give their addresses at twenty-one Vernon Street in Belize City. Qin, the Chinese national, gives an address of Trial Farm in Orange Walk. We note that even in the face of clear evidence of wrongdoing, case in point these three nationality certificates, ASP Valdez was instructed to halt his investigation. So who issued the infamous instructions? We figure it’s just a matter of time before that comes to light.

Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin today issued a writ of Mandamus against Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie. In simple terms, the Court has now instructed Whylie to criminally investigate the Won Hong Kim passport scandal and, of course, the man in the middle of it all, former Minister of State Elvin Penner. In addition, the Chief Justice delivered stinging criticism of ComPol Whylie, calling his refusal to investigate irrational, unreasonable and unlawful. It is a significant victory for the claimant, P.U.P. leader Francis Fonseca, and a major black eye for Belize’s top cop. The CJ took just a little over half an hour to provide his decision, with an explanation. Mike Rudon was in Court for what is a landmark ruling with certain political repercussions for Elvin Penner and likely for the government of the day.

Mike Rudon, Reporting

At twelve forty this afternoon P.U.P. leader Francis Fonseca, flanked by political supporters, emerged from Supreme Court number one…victorious. The party had beaten the odds and gotten the Court to direct Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie to carry out, to its conclusion, a criminal investigation into the passport scandal.

Francis Fonseca

Francis Fonseca, P.U.P. Leader

“The great majority, the overwhelming majority of the Belizean people have been of the very clear view that we needed to have an investigation into this matter, so it’s a victory for the Belizean people, it’s a victory for the rule of law…it’s a victory for our democracy so we are pleased with the decision.”

The writ of mandamus is considered somewhat of a last legal resort and is not granted without overwhelming cause. With that said, there is victory and clear vindication for the P.U.P. today, but it is tempered by the limitations of the writ. The investigation has been ordered, but the Court cannot tell the Commissioner how to conduct that investigation.

Francis Fonseca

“In effect the Chief Justice has ruled in our favor, in my favor. He has ordered that the writ of Mandamus be issued against the defendant, the Commissioner of Police in this case, ordering that an investigation be completed…if it has been started, it has to be completed, concluded into this U.D.P. immigration scandal. In addition to that, he has declared that the refusal of the Commissioner of Police to carry out an investigation, the refusal to conclude that investigation…his statement in his affidavit in court that he has decided not to investigate this matter…the Chief Justice of Belize has ruled today that that position is unlawful, it is arbitrary, it is unreasonable, it is unfair and he has ordered him to in fact carry out that investigation.”

It was clear today that the Court was troubled by the facts of the case, in particular the refusal of the Commissioner to investigate. A leaked memo from the D.P.P.’s office which stated that instructions had been given to halt the investigation also seemed to carry heavy weight. Still, the reality is that it is likely more of a symbolic victory than a practical one, since the time constraints make it unlikely that Elvin Penner will face criminal charges for his role in the passport scandal.

Elvin Penner

Francis Fonseca

“He will have to find a way to carry out that investigation. The Court has ordered him to do so. We believe that there is a lot of information that they have available on this matter. It is a question, as it has now been revealed in court…and if it were not for us coming to Court we would not have found out any of these things…but it’s clear that an investigation was started and someone instructed that the investigation be stopped. And that is a matter we can’t allow to just simply be swept under the rug. Even though the Courts have ordered that an investigation be carried out and the Commissioner must do that investigation, the Belizean people deserve to know who intervened….who sought to halt this investigation…who instructed the Belize Police Department not to continue that investigation…they are the ones who have tried to subvert our justice system and we need to know who gave those instructions.”

The statute of limitations in the summary offences for which Penner could be criminally charged for his role in the passport scandal expires within the week. Mike Rudon for News Five.

If the writ of Mandamus and public scolding weren’t bad enough, Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie was also ordered to pay costs, five thousand dollars for the claimant and two thousand dollars for the office of the D.P.P., who was named as an interested person in the case.

If you follow international news, you'll know that Mexico's biggest cartel boss, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, was caught 9 days ago in Culiacan, Mexico. He's now in a maximum security Mexican jail facing a multitude of charges in that country. Barring the possibility of escape, which has happened before, he could end up spending the rest of his life in jail.

One man who's taken a keen interest in his arrest is banana grower Johnny Zabaneh. In August of 2012 Zabaneh's business world came tumbling down around him when the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control designated him and two other Belizeans under the Kingpin Act. They said, quote, "John Zabaneh and two members of his drug trafficking organization, who are based in Belize and are key associates of Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman, and other members of the Sinaloa Cartel."

The OFAC Office referred to, quote, "John Zabaneh's drug trafficking activities and his organization's ties to Colombian sources of supply and Mexican buyers." End quote. They described him as quote, "a critical figure in the narcotics trade."

Zabaneh has denied it throughout, but to no avail - and now he is seizing on Chapo Guzman's arrest to make another attempt to clear his name. He says the US should question Chapo Guzman to ask him if he ever heard of John Zabaneh or did business with him. Zabaneh is sure that would exonerate him. To get his point made, today, he sat down with 7News and PLUSTV for a most unusual press conference. Here's how it went: he pitched a tent a few hundred feet from in front of the US Embassy in Belmopan to make the point that he is ready to go in and discuss any subject with the Americans - including his past record of drug trafficking:..

"Chapo Guzman was captured last week as we all saw in the media. He is labeled as the most notorious drug lord ever and I am supposed to be his associate in Belize. I have no idea how this come about and this is definitely uncorroborated fictitious and false allegations. My total passion has always been agriculture. However, in the early 80s I did some stupid things and I was made to pay for it in the United States. I came back and that skeleton has been buried. The stupid things I did in the 1980s were in the field of illegal marijuana operations, like many others in Belize. Unfortunately I am one of the very few that was made to pay for it. But I am glad and I am happy to know that at least my skeleton has been buried. Even though I have learned from my mistakes I am still having to defend myself 30 years later on false beliefs and allegations that I am still in the business. There is absolutely no facts to prove this, there is absolutely none and I am here today to answer all the questions and I hope this will spread the world over because since the capture of this fellow Mr. Guzman my name is again being dragged across the world in the gutters, in the slums, in the mud."

If I was involved with Mr. Guzman in any way I wouldn't be here today because they would not take the chance that I am so close to this gentleman I must know something about him and he would be worried sick and the best way to avoid any problems for himself - I'd be gone - simple as that. These are not any altar boys or boys scouts - I'd be gone, I'd be dead along with my family, cat, dog, parrot, everybody - gone."

Zabaneh says that for years a man he believes to be a DEA operative has been trying to entrap him. The African American man is listed as a parolee on a drug possession conviction in the state of Mississippi and Zabaneh says he's been coming to him for years proposing drug deals. Zabaneh told us the man visited him again just a few week ago:..

"Even before I was sanctioned in 2012 I was being visited by a gentleman and I don't want to portray myself as a religious person to be swearing or anything like that, but I could only swear to everything that I hold dear - this has been the first time I ever heard the name Chapo Guzman. This gentleman walked right into my office and started discussing business, bananas to the Middle East to all over the world and eventually he came down to the nitty-gritty of what he was there for 'I need your connections in Houston with Chapo Guzman. I need at least 12-1500 kilos of cocaine (I am not certain if its per week or per month) to supply Houston and Chicago.' I reported it to the Dangriga police, I reported it to the Belmopan police, to the commissioner of police, I reported it to the minister of police and I have records - every single time. To the US Embassy behind me and to Washington - these were reported every single time and there is record."

"This guy would not let up - I told him exactly that "I don't know who you are talking about and I am not in that business."

Jules Vasquez
"Now, in the normal course one would think particularly after repeated report the report a guy is trying to engage in drug business - someone would pick him up and question him or something, but as far as you know he hasn't even been arrested, detained or questioned?"

"No, I say up to a few weeks ago I was visited again - this guy walks right into my yard right there and sit in front me at my kitchen counter and he talks other things. he is very nice, very charming but at the end he said you know I still need that connection of yours. I need to supply Chicago and Houston."

And while that continues, Zabaneh also disclosed that he's been in direct contact with the US State Department. He says there's been some progress on that front where he claims to have gotten unto a list for re-consideration.

"I have made several requests to the US Embassy to come in and talk to their DEA, their CIA or whoever - take a lie detector test - to no avail; they have not taken up my offer. I have offered to go to Washington on my expense (I'll buy my own ticket) and face the tune, bring my accusers in front of me and trash it out. Again to no avail. Anyway, since my being put of the OFAC list in August of 2012 I have been taken off the previous case file number and put on another case file number on the re-consideration list. There must be some merits or some cause for that, so presently i'm on the re-consideration list. I have provided boxes upon boxes and I am talking not envelopes or not little packages - boxes of information to Washington on my companies which are Mayan King, Mid South and John Zabaneh myself to prove my innocence. Bank statements as far back as the bank can provide them - all the information personal on companies and questionnaires that has been sent down to me to answer I have answered everything very truthfully. There is no flaws or no if, and or buts in my answers to these questionnaires. However I haven't gotten any recent replies from them. The last reply was to 'look, we don't need no more information, give us time to go through this numerous and extensive information you have provided and we will get back to you.' So that's where we stand."

On Monday, People’s United Party leader Francis Fonseca won a significant victory in the court of Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin. With commendable dispatch, the CJ issued a directive to Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie to commence, to its conclusion, a criminal investigation into the Won Hong Kim passport scandal and former Minister of State Elvin Penner. The remarkable ruling in Supreme Court comes after a sustained six-month long public outcry, demanding the criminal prosecution of Elvin Penner. Evidence has confirmed the former Minister of State’s role in the passport scandal, and has pointed to a much greater role in widespread immigration corruption. Still, Penner has been enjoying the absolute protection of the political powers that be. But now he will, or should, face some criminal scrutiny, though there are serious time constraints. Mike Rudon has been following the journey of Mandamus and has an update.

Mike Rudon, Reporting

There is some sense of victory and vindication following the decision by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin on Monday. There have been cries and condemnation from every sector for the criminal investigation of Elvin Penner. Well, every sector except that occupied by his colleagues in political power. But the charges for which Penner could face criminal action are summary offences, with a statute of limitation of six months. Attorney Audrey Matura Shepherd has been following the case for Mandamus and broke it down for us.

Audrey Matura-Shepherd

Audrey Matura-Shepherd, Attorney

“It’s not just a symbolic victory. Remember there are two statutes of limitation that have been affected…one that ended yesterday on the third of March and the other that will end on the ninth of March – two of them. So the one yesterday, maybe that was a loss in that if you did not press charges by that date, then you cannot press charges again. And the one for the ninth of March, you cannot let that lapse because you will never be able to press charges. I do believe that between Monday and the ninth of March there is sufficient time to conduct an investigation and bring enough evidence on which to base a charge. Remember the Police can always start your investigation…have enough on which to arrest and charge and continue the investigation to shore up and build up that case, so I don’t think that one is lost. To begin with, we should have never reached the point where we had to go and beg the court, and plead to the court to please tell this officer, this high ranking official, to do his job. People have to understand the magnitude of this matter. No matter how the investigation ends up it is a victory for the democracy of this country, where a court was bold enough to make that decision.”

Matura-Shepherd says the Police should have been conducting an investigation before now, and the fact that they haven’t is cause for concern about how determined they are to get to the bottom of the passport and immigration corruption.

Allen Whylie

Audrey Matura-Shepherd

“I believe that at this point there was enough on which to base a charge, but that didn’t happen, and to me that shows bad faith. And the only worry then, if that was your act knowing that there was a limitation that was going to lapse, I am wondering as we speak, how diligently is the Police force working to bring about sufficient evidence to prefer a charge against Mr. Penner by the ninth of March. Now that is where we need to question how things will be done.”

There has been one immediate and notable casualty in this matter, if not substantively, then definitely in the court of public perception. Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie is a twenty-seven year veteran of the force, but he has gotten a black eye for what seems to be deliberate reticence in carrying out a serious investigation. Very likely he did so at the behest of higher political powers, but he has been the man under fire so far.

Elvin Penner

Audrey Matura-Shepherd

“I went in court and I was listening to the arguments and I looked over and I saw the Commissioner of Police sitting there alone…alone. And all I could think about is that he is a professional. I know him and I have always held him in high esteem and expected a certain form of conduct from him as an attorney having interacted with him. I know that he is very much aware of the law, and he has always acted, in my personal opinion, in a very professional manner. So it amazed me that he would then allow anyone to undermine his power and to give in to that kind of pressure and I would hope that he would speak openly as to what has really happened.  I won’t preempt their action other than to say that if they fail…that combined with the indictment against the Commissioner of Police…the next move has to be that the nation calls for his resignation and removal, because you have compromised yourself and office. The judge said clearly that you acted unlawfully, irrationally and unreasonably…and I think that would be basis to remove the Commissioner of Police.”

If there is an order of the court and there is evidence that the order was disobeyed, then that, according to Matura, would amount to nothing less than a serious contempt of court. Mike Rudon for News Five.