For the past two nights we've been reporting an an explosive leak of 497 rows of SMARTSTREAM invoices paid - most from the Ministry of Defence to Jenny Mira - sister of Oscar Mira for fruits and vegetable supplied mostly to the Ministry of Defence.
Today we asked the man who has been the CEO of that Ministry since 2025 about some of the suspicious patterns we saw in those payments:
Jules Vasquez:
"What jumps out is that there is such a systematic pattern of keeping under that that $10,000 threshold. In fact, on one day in 2023, when an invoice was booked for $18,000, it was quickly canceled. And then two days later, we saw two sums up here that add up to the same exact amount right down to the cent."
Francis Usher - CEO (2025 -) - Ministry of Defence
"So the, the cancellation of one invoice and then breaking it down into two invoices that add up to the amount, I can't necessarily speak to that because I wasn't the CEO here, but what I can say is that, at no point has anyone from the ministry at the BDF or the Coast Guard gone to a vendor and said, you know, I know this computer costs $12,000, but can you break it up into two quotations of eight and 4 or 6 and six so that they kind of fly under the radar?"
"Because it is a more efficient way for them to actually see the invoices be processed and for, money to appear in their accounts. That's not an indictment on the Ministry of Finance, the Treasury, anyone else, It's just it eliminates a layer of bureaucracy. And the vendors have learned that. And so they if they are providing 30 different items, they will quote or give you pro forma estimates that I'm certain they know the thresholds and that they keep it below that so that their funds can be, can be paid out quicker upon the delivery of the items."
Jules Vasquez:
"so many times we see recurrences of the exact same figures, one of them appearing 14 times, another being 12 times, another appearing nine times. What do you make of a pattern like that?"
Francis Usher - CEO (2025 -) - Ministry of Defence
"while the the individuals who are on duty may vary, the number of people on duty and on standby and working on every camp for the most part, on a week to week basis, remain the same."
"So for the most part, the ration bid and the numbers that we are feeding remain the same. So it's not an asinine belief or anything crazy that the quantities of things that we, require remain the same."
Jules Vasquez:
"But prices would fluctuate,"
Francis Usher - CEO (2025 -) - Ministry of Defence
"I agree, I agree, and prices do fluctuate with inflation. There are varying factors. We require people to deliver these goods, so the price of fuel varies and therefore the, the delivery costs do vary as well. But for the most part, all of these items are tendered items. And when you lock into a certain, contract or a certain, obligation to maintain a certain price, when you are doing your planning, you lock yourself, you plan accordingly. You plan according to any inflationary increases, any fluctuations, anything like that."
Jules Vasquez:
"Would you say what we have seen in the 497 entries we have reviewed, the 47 screenshots, would you say that those transactions appeared to you to be on the level?"
Francis Usher - CEO (2025 -) - Ministry of Defence
"On on the level of?"
Jules Vasquez:
"That they appear to be legitimate, not fraudulent transaction for goods fairly purchased and received by the Ministry of Defense?"
Francis Usher - CEO (2025 -) - Ministry of Defence
"So I can say that from, March 18th, 2025 to now, there have not been any - especially not from Mira's Fresh Fruits and Vegetables - anything that was quoted or paid for that was not received. And I likewise have not seen any pattern or any practice or any behavior from that vendor to indicate that she might have done that in the past. I don't put my hand on the block for anybody, but I can pretty confidently say that whatever was coated for whatever the invoice had on the the itemized invoice, was in fact delivered."
Jules Vasquez:
"Is Jenny Mira still a supplier for the Ministry of Defense? And The Belize coast guard?"
Francis Usher - CEO (2025 -) - Ministry of Defence
"So she's still in the system from time to time. If we would need some, emergency items or items that other suppliers don't have, she would still be called upon. But the actually the main supplier, because we did go through the open tendering process as per the finance and audit reform act. And she came in second, in that process, not first. So actually there is another supplier that's supplying, I would say the majority of vegetables currently."
Jules Vasquez:
"Do you think it's appropriate that the minister's sister, at the time the Minister of State's Sister, would be one of the major suppliers for the Army and the Coast Guard? And did she get the privilege to do so by a fair competitive bidding process?"
Francis Usher - CEO (2025 -) - Ministry of Defence
"So during, my time as CEO, everything was aboveboard. There was a fair, competitive and open bidding process where, all of the vendors were, they were, vetted and they were there was, evaluation criteria for all the vendors of all the items."
"I can definitely see and understand why there is the perception of nepotism. I can definitely understand that she is, after all, the sister of the minister. And that would be a very credible allegation had she just become a vegetable supplier in 2020. But they have been supplying well, they've had a vegetable shop for decades."
"I do understand the perception of nepotism, but they haven't just become one of the bigger vegetable suppliers, certainly in Belmopan, but across the country."
We'll have part two of that interview tomorrow when we ask Usher about some telling trickery in how invoice numbers were entered.
Notably, based on our reporting the Public Service Union has put a Freedom of Information request into the Accountant General, the Auditor General and
The Contractor General, quote, "to raise grave concerns regarding a widespread and deeply troubling practice within the Government of Belize involving the deliberate splitting (structuring) of payments to evade proper financial oversight and approval." More on that tomorrow.
