And while the police investigate any possible motives, speculation from other residents say it may have to do with her involvement in this businesswoman's vast and varied network of contacts.
Now, the victim in this case, Nan Cheng, also known as Liu Nan has been in the news before. 10 days ago, we told you how she went from being a "gift" giver to a revenue collector at the Belize City Council. In 2018, Mayor Bernard Wagner had allegedly berated her after she attempted to leave an envelope with fifty 50 dollars bills on the City Administrator's desk.
But last year, she was made into a revenue collector - with a Council ID. The Mayor denied her employment at the council, saying that she only assisted them with Chinese businesspersons for a mere two weeks.
Here's the interview - where the mayor seemed at a distinct loss for words:
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"The lady that you speak about does not work for the council, we have many agents, many collection agents, so it has been a system that I met here. Many collection agents and in this instance, this lady that you speak about, she's Asian so she has some measure of connection and is able to speak the language and she engaged us and we essentially said, alright, there are about three or four Asian people that you could do the collection for us and having the language barrier. Remember that many of these individuals were facing the effects of COVID-19 as well, so many of them wanted to speak to us that listen, we dih struggle too, our hotel broke, our hotel has been shut down since March 2020, we need relief as well, but the language barrier has always been challenging for us so for that very short span of time, she negotiated for three person for us."
Reporter
"How did she get back into the conversation with the council that you'd be able to recruit her after she so blatantly tried to induce the council?"
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"Well, the Council have always had many suppliers, we met many suppliers working that we do business with, many suppliers. And the fact of the matter is that she is in the business of supplying goods and services to the business community and to Belize as a whole and as a fledgling council, you're always trying to seek some measure of, in terms of - you want favorable terms, credit terms, if I dah wah business man and somebody give me a 90 days credit I am happy about that, I am always looking for favorable credit terms given the fact that as a council you're always struggling with cash flow and if you have a supplier who gives you a 90 day credit, why not take it?"
Reporter
"So roughly, I know you said it was a brief time that she was working with you guys, but roughly how long was it?"
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"I can't recall, I believe it's about two weeks to three weeks the most."
Reporter
"So she only had the ID for like two weeks?"
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"Yes."
