While the Hyde/Espat comeback was the news, the main topic of discussion was the Belize Companies Registry Limited. As has been widely reported, that company was privatized by the former Attorney General Godfrey Smith in a way that gave the private company 79% of what used to be government's revenue. In a sudden rush of righteousness, the government cancelled the contract two weeks ago but up to today there had never been disclosure of what key players in the government knew and when they knew it. In his first public discussion of the controversy, the Prime Minister said that GOB paid the tax for Michael Ashcroft because it had to.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Because I was advised that legally the Minister of Finance no longer can waive stamp duty and so it had to be paid in. It could either have been done through a resolution by parliament or as we did by paying it in."
Jules Vasquez,
Why should the government of Belize agree to pay taxes for a British billionaire?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"No the government of Belize did not agree to pay taxes for any millionaire."
Jules Vasquez,
The taxes were paid on behalf of?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"That was the nature of the agreement. It all depends on the agreement you make."
Jules Vasquez,
Is there a justification for why Michael Ashcroft should not have to pay stamp duty, why should he be exempt?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Well all I will say is that here was a gentlemen who once owned the company, the shares, the government persuaded him to sell, and then in he in turn now is buying back shares that he once owned and it was felt that really why should he have been pressed into paying stamp duty again, in fact I am not even sure if they paid the first time."
Stewart Krohn, Channel 5
"Why did you not seek the act of the legislature which you control absolutely?"
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Well we could have gone that route but I'm saying we did it this way to facilitate a quick process knowing full well that it would have come back to government. The intention was from day one that it should have been paid in and paid back out."
Stewart Krohn,
Were you aware at the time that 70% of that money would have stayed within the privatized Companies Registry?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"No that was never the intention and I was not aware of that. The clear intention was that the money was simply to be paid and then paid back out to government."
Jules Vasquez,
So what did you know and when did you know it as regards the contract with Belize Companies Registry Limited and its parent BELIPO?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"The proposal to outsource the companies registry as well as the intellectual property company registry was discussed and approved by Cabinet. Like in every other type arrangement, the contract itself was not discussed or approved by Cabinet, its left to the Ministry to work that out and this is what happened in this case. That is nothing extraordinary about that, this is how it's normally done."
Jules Vasquez,
But you are aware there is a revenue breakdown and that you do not get all the revenue?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I was aware, and I must tell you that in all sincerity my understanding was that the fees, because it was a management arrangement, that the fees were split in that mode to ensure that the managers of the system could manage the thing properly."
Jules Vasquez,
Did you find the 80-20 breakdown offensive?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I did. I did and that's why the Cabinet took a decision. I brought it to Cabinet and we took the decision to terminate the arrangement."
Jules Vasquez,
Do you think the then Attorney General acted wrongly or unconscionably to have negotiated such a contract?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I believe that you can with 20/20 hindsight review anything and find fault with it. I don't see what is the point of my going down that road to give an opinion about it. Clearly my position on this thing is reflected in the decision that I took to bring it to Cabinet and to get the Cabinet to terminate the arrangement.
When the matter was brought to my attention that somehow this money had been paid in and had not been paid back to government, the $2 million plus, I asked to see the contract. It was presented to me, I was appalled by the terms of the contract, and I further investigated the ownership of this company and the records showed that there were two principal owners of this BELIPO Company, namely Mr. David Jenkins and Mr. Denys Barrow. As far I am concerned, they are the owners of the company. They are the ones, when we sought to settle the matter that negotiations were held with held with subsequently to settle the matter. The former Attorney General and Minister has assured me that he is not a shareholder in the company and I am prepared to accept him at his word."
Stewart Krohn,
"Prime Minister would it not bother you that the leader of the Opposition would implicate his own brother, prejudice a fantastically rising judicial career just for what would have to be a political stunt? Does it not bother you the allegation that he is making bears a chance of being true?"
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I am not sure that the Leader of the Opposition was trying to implicate his brother, his brother was implicated in the sense that the records show that his brother was a party to this whole thing."
Stewart Krohn,
"Prime Minister let me clarify, he has unequivocally stated that his brother was involved in a corrupt business arrangement. It was corrupt because two Ministers of your government were silent partners in his company, that is the allegation. In making that allegation he hung his brother out to dry. I would question the fact that he would do that, does that not disturb you or cause you to look further into the allegation?"
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I find it very disturbing that he as the Leader of the Opposition, and as Dean Barrow a person, saw it necessary to hang out his brother to dry. I mean I am not too sure that I would have characterized the arrangement as corrupt, he did. Those are his words. He might have his reasons, I don't know what they are."
Jules Vasquez,
The leader of the Opposition has said that his brother a sitting judge on the Court of Appeal for Eastern Caribbean States has told him that these two are silent shareholders in the company. Is the Leader of the Opposition lying about what his brother told him?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I don't know what his brother told him."
Jules Vasquez,
He is saying what his brother told him.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"He is saying that his brother told him. You are going from that to saying that his brother did tell him. I am saying I don't what his brother might have told him, what I am telling you is I am not accusing anybody of lying, all I'm saying is I've been assured that the Minister, or indeed the former Minister in this case, that they were not beneficiaries in this company and I have no evidence to suggest otherwise."
Jules Vasquez,
The person who signed the contract, the former Attorney General Godfrey Smith, has said he fashioned these off the IMMARBE contract off the Belize Offshore Companies Register, and that this is in fact very similar to those. Are you prepared to disclose the terms of those and to say those are not as this is, unconscionable?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I don't have any problems in disclosing that document, in fact I suspect you might have it already Jules." [Laughs.]
Jules Vasquez,
I don't, but do you know the terms of those?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
I don't remember it, no I don't.
Jules Vasquez,
Because if those are similar it would seem a rather cold and calculating deed to pounce on the person who drafted this if it is off 'model legislation.'
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I can't disagree with you."
Jules Vasquez,
Should his colleagues in Cabinet have stood more closely by the embattled former Attorney General Godfrey Smith? Certainly the press complains about many 'odious' contracts signed by government, why did it act so decisively to reverse this one, to cancel a standing sovereign contract?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Because on the face of it I felt, and the Cabinet agreed with me, that on the face of it the arrangement in terms of the split was two uneven."
Jules Vasquez,
Did you authorize Mr. Joe Waight or Mr. Gian Ghandi, were they authorized to come up with a settlement deed in which it said that the Attorney General had acted illegally, unconstitutionally, and in a fashion that was repugnant to the laws of Belize?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I authorized Mr. Ghandi to sit down along with Mr. Joe Waight with Mr. David Jenkins and I think it might have been Mr. Denys Barrow, I am not sure about that part, but certainly with Mr. David Jenkins, to negotiate a settlement of this matter in which the government would have no legal obligation to pay damages for the alleged unilateral termination, or breach of contract as they were alleging. In the course of which, they were working on several drafts, they were, as I understand it, the company people, were putting forward their strongest case so they could claim damages. The government in turn as I understand it was putting forward its strongest case and no more than that. The point is that that draft was never approved by me."
According to the Prime Minister, the settlement with BELIPO is that government will not reclaim any taxes paid before September 18th and BELIPO will not seek compensation for the remaining years.
