Police Seek Immigration Cashier on Interpol Watch List in Fraud Probe

The investigation into an alleged fraud scheme at the Belize City Immigration Office has intensified, with police now seeking the arrest of public officer Jason Flowers, who has been placed on an Interpol Watch List after failing to return to work.  Love News has confirmed that Flowers, who served as a cashier within the Immigration Department, proceeded on leave just two days before officials formally uncovered what investigators describe as a suspicious pattern involving reversed payment receipts.  The latest development follows Love News’ exclusive report on May 13, when our newsroom first revealed that an internal investigation had been launched after officials detected what appeared to be widespread manipulation of payment records at the Belize City Immigration Office.  Sources disclosed at the time that investigators had identified more than eight hundred payment receipts that had reportedly been reversed in the department’s electronic system, despite no refunds ever being issued to customers. The discrepancies came to light after a woman attempting to collect her permanent resident card, for which she had paid fifteen hundred dollars, was informed that her receipt had been invalidated because it had allegedly been reversed in the system.  When the investigation first surfaced in May, Minister of Immigration Kareem Musa told Love News the Government was committed not only to recovering any missing public funds, but also to ensuring those responsible faced the full force of the law.

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.”

While initial estimates suggested that losses could exceed half a million dollars, Love News understands that investigators have so far confirmed approximately fifteen thousand dollars through a preliminary review of financial records. Authorities stress, however, that the figure represents only a fraction of the ongoing investigation, as a comprehensive forensic audit continues to determine the true extent of the missing funds and whether other individuals may have played a role in the alleged scheme./