Former Fort George Hotel Accountant Charged in $125K Theft Granted Bail

A former accountant employed with the Fort George Hotel & Spa is tonight out on bail after being formally arraigned on a charge of theft involving more than one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars allegedly taken from her workplace through unauthorized online transactions.  The accused is 39-year-old Alicia Yvonne McKenzie of the Rivas Estate area, Dangriga Town, Stann Creek District. McKenzie appeared shortly after eleven o’clock this morning before a Senior Magistrate at the Belize City Magistrate’s Court.  Court documents allege that between April 8 and August 15, McKenzie dishonestly appropriated a total of $125,721.72, the property of Fort George Hotel & Spa, with intent to permanently deprive the company of those funds. The money was reportedly transferred directly into her personal bank account through multiple online transactions.  Due to the indictable nature of the offense, no plea was taken. McKenzie was granted bail in the sum of $10,000, plus two sureties of $5,000 each, which she successfully met. As part of her bail conditions, she was ordered to surrender her travel documents, and she complied by handing her passport to the Clerk of Court prior to posting bail.  McKenzie is scheduled to return to court on February 12, 2026.  The matter against McKenzie was first reported on September 1 by Fort George Hotel & Spa’s Financial Controller who stated that on August 27, while reviewing messages within the Finance Department’s WhatsApp group, she noticed discussions between the hotel’s Purchases Manager and McKenzie that prompted her to review internal banking documents.  During that review, she reportedly discovered that the same bank account number appeared on payment confirmation forms for multiple vendors, despite each vendor being required to have a unique account number on file. Lumor said she then reviewed the payroll system for hotel employees and identified that the account number in question belonged to McKenzie.  Hotel management stated that no authorization was given for these payments.  A wanted poster was issued by Police last week, and by this morning McKenzie was formally arrested and charged with theft.