GoB settles with Ashcroft Alliance’s BISL

Black Immigrant Daily News

A Caribbean Court of Justice judgment handed down in June 2020 ordered the Government of Belize to pay Belize International Services Ltd. (BISL) – a company partially owned by the Ashcroft group—damages for breach of an extension contract, and the parties signed a settlement agreement today

by Marco Lopez

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 22, 2022

Today, the Government of Belize announced that it signed a settlement agreement for US$38.5 million with Belize International Services Limited (BISL)—a company owned by the Ashcroft Alliance and a Panamanian law firm— after the Caribbean Court of Justice’s judgment on June 30, 2022, which ordered GoB to pay damages to those entities. The ruling was handed down more than two years ago, under the Barrow administration, and was the last of a series of lawsuits taken through the Belize judicial system against the Government of Belize by the company, BISL, after a 2005 extension agreement signed with its owners was found to be unlawful by the then UDP administration.

The company, BISL, was contracted in 1993 to manage two registries for Belize, the International Merchant Marine Registry of Belize (IMMARBE) and the International Business Companies Registry (IBCR), and was given an extension in 2003 to operate from that year until 2013. Two years later, in 2005, they were given a subsequent extension to operate from 2013 to 2020. The government, however, considered the 2005 extension unlawful after taking over control of the registries in 2013.

The company then filed a claim on March 26, 2015, against the government for damages caused by a breach of the contract, but in October 2016, current acting Chief Justice Michelle Arana ruled in favor of the government, deeming the

agreement to be unconstitutional, illegal and void. The case was taken to the Court of Appeal, where the Justices of Appeal dismissed the appeal and affirmed the ruling of then Justice Arana.

The company finally got a favorable ruling after seeking redress at the highest appellant court, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which ruled that the government acted unlawfully when it seized control of the two BISL registries. The court further ordered that damages be assessed by the Supreme Court and paid to the claimant in its judgment.

As far as we are aware, that court hearing never happened, but an out-of- court settlement between the current administration and the Ashcroft Alliance- owned company was reached today and announced in a press release.

“Today, the Government of Belize and BISL signed a settlement agreement resolving this matter. Under the terms, the government, subject to NationalAssembly approvals, will pay BISL a total of US$38.25 million (BZ$11.5 million to be paid in Belize Dollars) in full and final settlement of BISL’s claim, which BISL will then discontinue,” the release from the government states.

Waterloo Investment Holdings Limited (Waterloo owned 50% of BISL) has fought the government along with co- owner Morgan y Morgan law firm all the way to the highest court in the land to secure the damages in this case.

Waterloo, incidentally, is once more making overtures to the government of Belize as it seeks the approval of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to begin construction of a major cruise and cargo port at the Port of Belize Limited compound and surrounding areas.

While the development is being rejected by many in the public and in the environmental community, the PUP administration has once again given leave to the NEAC (National Environmental Appraisal Committee) to review the new application submitted by Waterloo. The signing of this agreement for a settlement of the Waterloo subsidiary’s claim, which was hanging over Belizeans’ heads, is taking place at a time when the company is once again seeking the green light to embark on a multi-million-dollar enterprise that would have questionable impact on the people of Belize. A total of USD $38.5 million will have to be paid to the company from the taxpayers’ pockets— a company, which as mentioned, is owned by the Ashcroft Alliance and a major Panamanian law firm.

In an interview today, Prime Minister Hon. John Briceño said that his government will go to the House of Representatives this Wednesday to approve a supplementary budget to finally pay off the debt. He pointed out that if the award is not paid and is allowed to balloon in size due to the accumulation of interest, as much as $180 million dollars and aggregated interest payments of $17,000 daily could have been owed by the people of Belize to the company. He says that a team was set up about 6 months ago to negotiate with the representatives of BISL to come to a final agreement on the matter.

The PM said that the UDP’s acquisition of BISL by way of “strongarming” the company has caused some “incalculable” damage to the country, but he went on to point out that BISL has been generating considerably large profits, which will now go into the coffers of the people of Belize.

“It affects direct investments. You look at Belize as not following the rule of law, and we can go down the road, but the truth of the matter is that since the acquisition in the past 7 years, we collected as a government a little over $95 million dollars—the US, US dollars in revenue over 7 years, and of that it cost the government a little under US$9 million dollars to run those operations, so in effect about 85, 86 million dollars US profit,” the PM said.

Those profits were, however, spent well before the Barrow administration was replaced by the current PUP government, the PM said.

“It is unfortunate that the previous government spent all the money. They did not save any money; they did not put anything in sinking fund, knowing full well that it will have to be paid,” the PM said. He also indicated that all the documents related to the transaction will be presented in short order.

“The US$38.5 million in total, that includes their fees and everything, so they would not be able to come back and say, ‘well you owe me this’; it ends there, so it was important for us to get it over quickly. Cabinet agreed to it, to the terms last week Friday. Today we sign the settlement deed, and then on Wednesday we go to the House to approve the settlement and also the supplementary budget to be able to pay them off,” the Prime Minister explained. He said that they have until November 1 to make the payment in full.

When asked where the government is going to find the money to make the payment, he said, “It’s easier for government to borrow from itself than to be able to pay the 6% that the court mandates you to pay; government pays 3.5%, so it’s a no-brainer.”

NewsAmericasNow.com