We also asked Barrow about the effect of these allegations of wrongdoing against Caribbean International Brewing Company. Before last week's raid of their compound, the company was known as the emerging competitor in the beer industry, after it officially opened for business last January.
This case now associates them with the suspicion of criminal wrongdoing so serious that the Belizean authorities had to seize their funds and charge several persons connected to the company.
Here's what Barrow had to say about the possibility that the authorities cannot prove these allegations, which may have a lasting impact on the company's public reputation:
Daniel Ortiz, reporter
"Toothpaste is now out of the tube and the effect of that is that your client's reputation may be damaged already."
Dean Barrow, SC, Attorney for CIB
"Precisely so. Note though that while the FIU has added these grounds as an additional basis for wanting to hold on to the money, there is no evidence at all that has been produced to suggest that there is any merit in those grounds. Ask this question: people have been charged. They've been charge with working without work permits. They've been charged presumably with other immigration offences. If why, because the charging authorities are saying we have material to sustain those charges. No charges have been brought with respect to anything such as money laundering, such as retaining proceeds of crime, such as tax evasion - none. So, these are bare allegations that in my view cannot stand up to scrutiny. But you're right. Just the making of those allegations does tremendous harm to the reputation and to the business efficacy of the Caribbean International Brewing Company Ltd. What that will mean is that at the end of the day these people will be able to sue for a ton load of damages, because it is either that if the money continues to be withheld, they have to shut down shop completely or even if it is not and even if they do get back the money and they are able to resume - that reputational injury that you spoke about is such that I would imagine there would be at the very least a huge contraction in their business. Those are losses. Those constitute the kind of damage and an extent as to damage that will underpin as I said a huge certainly on their part for an unprecedented award of damages in the supreme court."
