Immigration Minister determined to pursue criminal charges in embezzlement investigation

Minister of Immigration, Kareem Musa, says he is determined to see criminal charges brought against the cashier at the center of the ongoing Immigration Department embezzlement investigation involving reversed receipts at the Belize City office. Musa says the government is taking the matter extremely seriously as investigators continue examining what may amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in missing public funds.  The scandal first came to public attention last week after reports surfaced that more than eight hundred receipts may have been reversed in the department’s system without any refunds actually being issued to customers. Investigators have since centered attention on one cashier assigned to the passport office who allegedly gained access to the multiple passwords required to authorize receipt reversals.  Today, Minister Musa explained that the investigation remains active and says authorities are now gathering the evidence needed before the matter is formally turned over for criminal prosecution.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Immigration, Governance and Labour: “That particular issue that you’re raising occurred in at the Belize City Immigration Office in terms of the scale of it. That is something that we are still in the process of assessing. We have an idea, but I don’t want to commit in terms of a number, a particular number, because this will more than likely be the subject of a criminal investigation. We have already identified one individual and based on the information that we have gathered, I am pretty certain, I am convinced as Minister that that individual needs to be charged criminally. It has been said that the individual could not possibly have been working alone. When you understand the level at which this person was operating in terms of altering receipts there’s possible forgery of signatures of supervisors that might have occurred. If that is the case then it would be the individual alone if it is that he committed acts of forgery. But if he did not then it would be that there are others involved. And so we have to look at both possibilities. But like I said, for the time being, I am convinced that certainly one individual is going to be charged. Obviously, it’s going to take the police involvement. But in addition to getting the police involved I have given directives that we request immediately an audit into this particular scheme that has been taking place, at least up until February of last year, and we’re looking at other offices throughout the country as well.” 

Musa also indicated that the nature of the suspected theft appears to differ significantly from previous incidents reported within the Immigration Department. According to the minister, investigators believe the current scheme may have involved a more elaborate abuse of the department’s electronic systems and authorization processes.  The minister noted that unlike prior cases, this latest investigation points to what appears to be a sustained pattern of manipulation involving reversed transactions and internal access controls.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Immigration, Governance and Labour: “From what I have been informed this is an entirely different scheme than what was taking place before. Like I said, this one may even involve forgery of signatures. Again, something different from what was previously there. And so I would have to see the two situations. I wasn’t there for either, but certainly this one will come into my term. But we will look at both of the instances to do a comparison analysis. But at the very least, you can say that there were some supervisory roles that could have been tightened up if it is that this individual was able to operate since February of last year. As you know we put people in places of trust and accountability. It happens every single day not just in the public sector but also in the private sector where you have individuals embezzling, misappropriating funds, you see them getting charged every day on a daily basis. And so these are things that when it comes to light it depends what you do as the minister, what you do as the CEO to rectify the situation, to make adjustments, to hold people accountable. That is what is going to be determining whether or not you’re doing a good job as minister and CEO. We are not in these ministries or these departments on a daily basis to see the transactions that they’re doing and the reversals that they were doing. But at the end of the day we have to take to make tough decisions, hold people accountable, fire who needs to be fired, transfer who needs to be transferred and discipline those individuals who are not doing their jobs.”

The Ministry of Immigration has already confirmed that an internal review is underway and says the matter could ultimately lead to a full financial audit as well as criminal proceedings./