And while the government is free of Prosser maybe only for the time being, at what cost has that freedom come? 7NEWS has obtained a document which shows the legal bill from Hunton and Williams, government's Miami lawyers for June alone and it is US$449,000. The Attorney General confirmed these costs.
Francis Fonseca, Attorney General
"The bills that I have seen so far don't reflect what you are saying. The bills that I have thus far, I think, show that we paid a little less than BZ$2 million to Hunton and Williams. Obviously we have to wait and see what the bills will be for July."
Jules Vasquez,
However you don't dispute that June is $449,000?
Francis Fonseca,
"I don't dispute that. Its quite likely because that was the month of the trial so its quite likely correct I believe."
And while government has paid millions of dollars, just to disentangle itself from Prosser in the Miami court, it's not over with the very peeved U.S. investor. He feels the Prime Minister made him promises to seduce him into buying BTL and then backed out of those promises.
ICC today issued a release which says that yesterday's decision does not address the central issue in the dispute: that the government defrauded ICC into investing in Belize. In the release, Prosser is quoted as saying they will seek an appeal of the judgement expeditiously.
Today Francis Fonseca said Prosser is the one who failed to live up to his obligations and even with US$31 million invested he'll just have to stand down.
Francis Fonseca, Attorney General
"So there's no question of feeling sorry for Mr. Prosser and saying what's going to happen to Mr. Prosser and is he going to back away. The fact is that he had an opportunity with an agreement. If he had made good on the payment, we wouldn't have been here today, we would have been moving forward with BTL. He was unable to make that payment, he defaulted on it, and as a business person he has to suffer the economic consequences of it."
Godfrey Smith,
"Well he appeal? He probably will. Will he succeed? In my view I think no. I think the issues are fairly straightforward; it's a matter of hard facts."
Prosser's release says he plans to also pursue international arbitration in which he is claiming for US$200 million. Fonseca says he believes yesterday's judgement weakens his position in that proceeding.
