She's a public officer who works in the Treasury Department, but tonight, 43-year-old June Belisle is facing a theft charge for just over $91,600, which was paid out of the government purse. That's because investigators say that she was paying out money to people who weren't teachers or public officers, and who definitely shouldn't have received it.
The allegations against her are that she paid out this money over a period of November 1st, 2019, and September 30th, 2020. Court reports say that on October 14, 2020, CIB investigators visited the Treasury Department, where the Accountant General reported to them that during this period, those 91 thousand, six hundred plus dollars were paid out to persons who weren't lawfully employed by the Government. All of these payments were allegedly made by Belisle, a first-class clerk, and an internal investigation revealed that these payments shouldn't have been made.
That investigation reportedly revealed that Belisle contacted 11 people, who were all single mothers, and told them that there was a financial assistance program for single parents, where the money would be deposited into their bank account every end-of-month. Allegedly, the recipients were instructed that whenever the money was deposited, they would get a small portion of it and that they must give her the rest.
She allegedly then entered their names into the government's Smart System, as though they were teachers hired by the government. The payments were then deposited into their accounts at either Atlantic Bank or Heritage Bank.
Police say that after the persons collected the cash, they took a portion of it, and handed over the rest, just as Belisle instructed them. A total of 11 payments were made to 11 people during the period in question.
Belisle, a Belize City resident, was arraigned today before Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford. The magistrate informed her that because this offense will be treated as indictable, no plea would be taken from her. Because there was no objection, Senior Magistrate Ford granted her bail of $25,000 - which she met this afternoon.
