Government steals land from US national, then rewards culprits


Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr.
Hon. Gaspar Vega

As the massive fire of corruption continues to gut the Ministry of Immigration and Godwin Hulse's integrity, an equally devastating fire is now raging at the Ministry of Natural Resources.

If, as Dean Barrow predicted, visa hustling would bring down his government, the next story is set to nosedive our country right down to the very bottom of the corruption index charts.

Frederick Dow, a US national, was the proud owner of 1.3 acres of prime beachfront property on San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. In 1995 he, along with his siblings, received the property as a gift from their late father. The approximate value of the property is Two Million Belize Dollars.

In what can only be described as an elaborately orchestrated heist, in October of 2011, the Ministry of Natural Resources did the unthinkable. They issued a second title over Mr. Dow's property to a UDP crony, on the recommendation of the Minister of Tourism, Manuel Heredia.

The Players

Prior to the UDP government stealing his property, Mr. Dow was made aware that something was afoot when a person he identified as Juan Alamilla, the cousin of Minister Manuel Heredia, began offering Mr. Dow's property for sale.

What was even stranger, was the fact that Minister Manuel Heredia had issued a letter recommending one Carlos Balona, a UDP crony, to receive title to Mr. Dow's property.

Now, everybody and their granny on San Pedro know that all beachfront property on San Pedro is privately owned. So how could the Minister issue a letter of recommendation for Carlos Balona knowing that the property belonged to a private owner?

Realizing that something fishy was taking place, Mr. Dow immediately instructed his real estate agent to fire off a letter to the CEO in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Beverly Castillo, warning the government of the fraud that was taking place.

What Mr. Dow didn't realize was that this kind of corruption is now commonplace under the current Ministry of Natural Resources and they were actually in on the plan to steal his property. Instead of putting a halt to the land scam, the Ministry expedited the processing of the double title and hurriedly issued it to Carlos Balona, as recommended by Minister Manuel Heredia.

Carlos Balona seems to have been a mere pawn in the game played by the UDP big-wigs. But, for a few short days, Carlos Balona, was a multi-millionaire.

Apparently, realizing that Mr. Dow was hot on their trail, Balona was then instructed by the UDP big-wigs to transfer the multi-million dollar property to a second UDP crony, Mario Rodriguez.

According to the transfer paperwork, Mario Rodriguez supposedly bought the property from Carlos Balona for $100,000.00. However, in a very candid interview on Plus TV, Balona declared that the entire transaction was bogus. He was set up by Juan Alamilla. No money was passed. Balona was used and so was Rodriguez. According to Balona, to this day he has not received a single cent from Alamilla nor Rodriguez for playing his part in the land scam.

The Injunction

Having come to the realization that the Ministry of Natural Resources was aiding and abetting the theft of his property, Frederick Dow had no choice but to seek legal recourse in the Supreme Court of Belize.

Mr. Dow filed for an injunction to restrain Mario Rodriguez (the 2nd UDP crony to receive his title) and the Minister of Natural Resources from transferring his property yet again.

The courts granted Mr. Dow's application and Alamilla, Balona, Rodriguez and the Government of Belize were arrested in their tracks.

With the injunction in place and the culprits identified, the Government of Belize had no choice but to come clean and return the title to its rightful owner, Mr. Frederick Dow.

Despite the bust, the Government continues to play games with Mr. Dow's property.  Instead of giving him back his 1.3 acres of land the Government has issued title to only 1.1 acres, depriving Mr. Dow of the most valuable portion of his property, the beachfront. Needless to say, Mr. Dow will continue to sue the Government for this fraud. The longer the UDP takes to right their horrible wrongdoings, the more taxpayers of Belize will pay for the Government's corrupt acts.

Culprits Rewarded

While the story may eventually have a happy ending for Frederick Dow, the truth is Belize has suffered on so many levels.

Firstly, and perhaps the most absurd, after Mario Rodriguez was forced to give back the title to Mr. Dow, the Government for whatever unknown reason, gave Rodriguez other parcels of land likewise worth millions of dollars.

Rodriguez never paid Balona for the "exchange" of Mr. Dow's property, but yet the Government felt an obligation to reward Rodriguez, their UDP crony, in the land scam. This is the crux of the scam: no matter the outcome of the Supreme Court case, the UDPs would hustle big no matter what!

As readers may recall, this is not the first time that UDPs have gotten away with such a white-colour heist. Remember the prime pieces of Placencia Reserve that Gaspar Vega gave to his daughter, his son's girlfriend and his imported pet, Dorian Pakeman? Then there was the sea front property given illegally to Orange Walk UDP crony, Derrick Gillett and Rosita Aragon (sister to another crony, Elodio Aragon). All under Gaspar Vega.

Even though the Vega flunkies were forced to return the lands back to their owners they were repaid quite handsomely for their role in the give-and- take back scheme.  We have evidence showing that Gillett and Aragon were paid as much as $140,000.

Secondly, taxpayers will have to foot the legal bill for Rodriguez, Balona and the Government of Belize.  Believe it or not Belize, this is really taking place.  You are paying for the corrupt acts of UDP criminals.

Thirdly, and most concerning, the US Embassy and the international media have been briefed about his land scam and it is now only a matter of sit and wait before we feel the international effects of just another black-eye at the hands of Dean Barrow and his corrupt UDP government.

The fire is burning under the UDP's Hotbed of Corruption and we are paying.

The Belize Times