Tonight, 513 people are wondering what happened with their hundred dollar raffle ticket - where they took a chance to win a Toyota Hilux - but the draw was never held!
Back in August, the Sub Umbra Floreo Lions Club began advertising their first ever truck raffle. At $100 a ticket, the lucky winner would get a 2026 Toyota Hilux. The money would then go to help families battling childhood cancer. The original draw date for the raffle was set for December 31st.
Today is March 20th, and that raffle has still not been drawn, and the hundreds who bought tickets are wondering what will happen with their money and whether this raffle was legit or a scam.
Well, according to the secretary of Gaming and Lotteries Commission, Lewin Samuels, the club wrote to them asking for an extension to March 7th, which was granted on February 19th.
March 7th came and still there was no draw. Information to us is that the club was unable to meet the threshold for the number of tickets bought and therefore cancelled the raffle. They then wrote to the commission again on March 13th, informing them of this and letting them know that they will be reimbursing those that bought tickets.
And according to the secretary of the Commission, the process to do so includes providing a list of names and contact numbers for those that bought tickets and an announcement to the general public. They must also inform the commission of the method of reimbursement and notify them after it is done - which Samuels told us the club promised to do within 30 days.
And while that is all good and well - where's the truck that was supposed to be raffled? Well, this June 2025 letter shows that there was correspondence between the club and Belize Diesel and Equipment Company Limited. The club was required to put down $20,000 as a down payment.
The company says that while they did have a conversation with the club about it, there was no formal agreement, no down payment made and - well - no truck. According to Pi Marin, the owner of the company, they only provided a Proforma invoice and nothing else. There was no follow up from the Lions Club after that.
So while the Belize Diesel logo was present on the flyer and the raffle ticket, they did not have any involvement with - or any knowledge of - this raffle.
And so at this point, all we can advise you is that if you bought tickets for this raffle, keep an eye out for a public notice from the club that should detail when and how you will get reimbursed.
And, while that's the foreground, in the background to all this is a mighty dispute within the Club and a police report made yesterday by the members against the president for alleged fraud.
No one could confirm to us whether the 50 thousand plus dollars collected in proceeds from the sale of the raffle is safely in the Club's bank account.
