Turning now to other news, tonight, the SmartStream procurement scandal has hit the inner sanctum of the Briceño administration. 7News has now obtained screenshots showing payments made to RSL Group Limited, a newly formed company headquartered in Orange Walk and linked to the Cabinet Secretary himself, Stuart Leslie.
As Jules Vasquez found out, RSL is into a very current payment stream from the Ministry of Defence:
RSL Group, the company linked to Cabinet Secretary Stuart Leslie, has received payments of $85,874.10 from the Ministry of Defence for seasoning sold to the BDF across just two months.
Screenshots now in circulation show payments in May and June 2026 following the familiar pattern of sub-$10K disbursements.
Notably, on June 4th, five days before the screenshot leaks started, the system approved seven consecutive identical payments of exactly $6,941.25 each-a total haul of $56,224.13 for that day.
And on May 13th, four invoice payments totaled a disbursement of $29,649.97.
One larger payment of $49,534.54 is pending.
According to our sources, the Orange Walk-based RSL Group is owned by Stuart Leslie and Roel Cabrera, and was formed in October 2025. Leslie states that he is only a director and was unaware of the company's involvement in tendering for the BDF rations contract. He maintains that he has not made a dollar from the company and did not use his official position or influence to secure the supply agreement.
Leslie says the owners are longtime family friends and that they import from Chetumal.
Multiple reports suggest that RSL also supplies pharmaceuticals to the Ministry of Health, but we could not reach Cabrera to confirm this.
This evening, Cabinet Secretary Leslie told 7News that RSL has no business in pharmaceuticals. The Minister of Health Kevin Bernard texted us to say, quote, "RSL has never supplied any pharmaceutical or even participated in any of the tendering at the MoHW."
