Clarification on Central Bank of Belize Warning......

Original Story

Seven Letters from Minister Contreras to Lord Gibson Discussed

Posted by staff on April 3rd, 2014 | Posted in Economics, Government | 2411 Views

We now take a closer look at Lord Neil B Gibson. Lord Gibson came into the spotlight earlier this year when, as a foreign investor, he provided financial support and an online endorsement for Ralph Huang’s political campaign in Cayo South.

It created quite a stir in the Public as Lord Gibson claimed that with that victory, he awaited Ralph Huangs appointment to a Ministerial Position within Government. Another development that soon evolved was the extent of the relationship Between Lord Gibson and Minister Erwin Contreras.

Lord Gibson’s website proudly boasts “that the partnership has been working closely with the Honourable Erwin Rafael Contreras, Trade Investment, Private Sector Development and Consumer Protection.”

PlusNews identified at least 7 letters of comfort, all on Ministry of Trade Letterhead and signed by Minister Contreras himself or on his behalf. We sat down with Michael Singh, CEO in the Ministry of Trade to have a frank discussion on the letters.

Michael Singh – CEO in the Ministry of Trade

“Let me answer this for you as clearly as I can.  I have met Lord Nelson personally once.  He asked for an appointment and has been in to visit with me.  I don’t know the gentleman very well.  I do know that he, from what I understand, was involved in business offshore type industry, financial services, of which… not very clear to me exactly what it is that he does with offshore financial services.  He had expressed an interest, from what I understand, in setting up a bank in Belize.  He was under the impression, at one point in time, that the Small Farmers’ Bank would have been for sale, but the Small Farmers’ Bank is not a bank.  So clearly, you can’t sell a bank that’s not a bank as a bank.”  

How did Lord Gibson get that idea that a Government Bank was up for sale?  Well, one of the letters from Minister Contreras dated May 7, 2012, has a clue.

Hon. Erwin Contreras requested help in the Launching of Belize’s National Bank! “The government of Belize is currently seeking necessary funding and investors …. One of the current programs … is exploring the possibility if turning the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) into a National Bank. We invite Interstate group and Lord Neil B. Gibson to assist the country and Belizean people with this vital economic program.”

Gibson did set up his own Financial Services Company in Belize: Handels Security Ltd.  But queries began coming to Central Bank and in February of 2013, Central Bank issued a warning on Gibson’s company; Handel’s Security Ltd. Until recently, Michael Singh sat on the Central Bank Board. He had this to say about that warning.

Michael Singh

“Well, it’s factual.  It’s factual that he is not authorized to transact, because he doesn’t have a banking license in Belize.  So, I think it was a clarification, and the clarification came through requests coming in from inquiries, asking whether or not he has such a license, and that the warning was just clarifying that he doesn’t.  But it doesn’t mean that the man is a bad guy.  It just means that he’s not licensed to do those things in Belize.  Belize is not in the habit of inviting financial service operators that don’t have a track record or that will not survive under the scrutiny of international organizations.  At the Central Bank, on which board I sat on for two years, I will tell you that the prudency that the bank goes through is extremely tight.”

Yet in spite of the warning, another letter written and signed by Minister Erwin Contreras dated March 24, countered the Central Bank warnings. That letter, again on Ministry of Trade Letterhead, states,  ‘’…we did a separate investigation into allegations made against Handel’s Securities Ltd., and found them all to be false claims.  I personally sat with the chairman of the Central Bank of Belize and Mr. Gibson, and we were told by the Chairman that the Central Bank was investigating Handel’s Bank & Trust Co Ltd. an international bank licensed in Belize, for alleged wrong doing, not Handel’s Securities…. we would be happy to speak with anyone regarding this matter.”  We asked Minister Singh what investigations could His Ministry carry out that could declare the allegations as false claims.

Michael Singh

“I think the word investigation might be the word that’s a little confusing.  It really is background checks that we do.  Investigation seems to indicate that it’s a criminal investigation.

Louis Wade – Plus TV News

“It gives the impression that the kind of investigation that was done is likened to the kind of investigation done by Central Bank.”

Michael Singh

“It’s a background check.  Well, I will tell you that, within our Ministry we have a lot of foreign investors that we deal with.  One of the requirements of an EPZ license, for instance, is that there must be a background check of the principals of the company, before we give them an Export Processing Zone.  I don’t think that the letter said the man is licensed.  It never went against what the Central Bank said.”

In actuality the letter written by Contreras did give the impression that Handels security was still licensed. “This letter serves as confirmation and support… that Handels Securities Ltd is licensed with the International Finance Services Commission of Belize and the licenses are in good standing until 2014.”

We also asked CEO Singh how could he or his ministry be asked by the Minister to defend or speak to anyone on behalf of an Investor.

Michael Singh

“A Central Bank regulatory issue is completely different.  I am not at liberty to discuss a Central Bank regulatory issue with anyone, because part of my role on the Board of the Central Bank is that we sign an agreement for confidentiality, which has to be respected.  You know, whether it’s Lord Gibson, or whether it’s you, whether it’s Joe Blow on the street, I have to respect that.  OK?  So I would not be in a position to clarify or dent anything in respect to what happens in Central Bank deliberations, regarding any investor.  I can confirm that a letter was sent out, speaking to a warning, regarding activities by any entity that’s not licensed to do that.  That’s a public warning that went out.  I can speak to that.  If somebody would come in here and ask me if this man is a legitimate or not, that’s a very hard thing for me to decide.  All I can tell you is what our background checks have shown, and our background checks have not shown any criminal activity by the gentleman.”

In Friday’s newscast CEO Singh gives his opinion on Lord Neil Gibson’s varied interests in Belize and he speaks frankly on the issue of Comfort Letters to investors.

Belize Politics Go International

Original Article
Rarely does political drama play out on an international stage, and it is usually relegated to
small, local elections that only the residents of some small town or city would be interested in.
Recently Las Vegas and one of it's residents has been thrust into the international spotlight
through the internet and social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and various blogs. Lord Neil
B Gibson, the Las Vegas based businessman, developer and international finance figure has
rocketed into the fiery discussions that are taking place in the country of Belize, specifically
regarding an election for the position of Standard Bearer in the Cayo South Constituency Area.
Social media, news outlets and radio have been awash with discussion regarding the election of
businessman Ralph Huang to this position, and conspiracy theories abound as to the
connection he has to Lord Neil B Gibson. Accusations of corruption have already been made
only days after the election from the opposing party, and a large-scale smear campaign has
begun to play out on the global stage with regards to Mr. Huang, Mr. Gibson and the future of
Belizian governmental positions.
Interesting spins on the situation are being presented through such media outlets as Channel 5
Belize, 7 News Belize and the associated Youtube Channels of each station. Many local blogs
have also taken to the internet in an attempt to drum up the suspects of corruption with regards
to the relationships that Lord Neil B Gibson has with both Huang and other Belizian
governmental officials. The majority of the coverage centers around the fact that Mr. Huang has
admitted that Gibson both contributed to his campaign and also supported his election. The
coverage being presented is amaturish at best in it's attempts to stir up controversy, as the
press releases, posts and announcements that can be found both on the official business
websites of Neil Gibson as well as his business websites and social media have never
attempted to make even the slightest hiding of his contributions and support. Gibson went as far
as to create professional videos distributed on Youtube endorsing Huang and touching on the
reasons he believes Huang was right for the job. Gibson has also shown a long track record of
complete transparency with regard to his interest in Belizian development projects, going as far
as to publicly promote the ongoing developments attached to each potential project in Belize on
his network or websites and press.
The levels of transparency with regard to Lord Neil B Gibson's interests in Belize are far beyond
those typically put forth by any business entity. A quick perusal of the news sections of his
websites show postings regarding Belizian development interests, with postings on the subject
going back to October of 2013. Additionally, completely transparent postings on the subject of
endorsements and campaign contributions go back to early January as seen here: http://
www.lordneilgibson.com/lnbg-llc-endorses-huang/
All of the websites and Youtube videos across Gibson's network openly discuss the subject of
his endorsement of Huang, and never is their relationship attempted to be covered up in any
regard. So the question of corruption should be addressed, except possibly it should be directed
at other entities aside from Lord Neil Gibson and Ralph Huang. Possibly we should be looking
into why media outlets and bloggers in Belize are so aggressively attempting to make the
relationship between two businessmen into an issue, when the entire situation played out on the
world stage through the internet in a completely documented manner. If there were any issue
that should be covered up involving Lord Neil Gibson and Belizian governmental officials, then
why would they be posing for pictures together that are widely distributed on the internet? If
there were cover-ups happening, then why is the credited sources of all of the photographs that
are being distributed in association to the "scandal" stories of Gibson posing with Belizian
politicians being taken directly from Gibson's websites? If there was a cover-up happening,
wouldn't the transparency of the relationships actually be covered up by the parties involved?
Corruption happens in government all the time, and Belize is no stranger to it. Corruption is bad
for all people who are touched by it, and should be exposed at all costs. However, the definition
of corruption is not about a business man contributing to another business man's campaign to
run for office, and the fact that one business man lives in Las Vegas and the other in Belize is
also not part of the definition. Corruption is about a lack of transparency as to the source of
money or influence with regards to projects. Perhaps we should consider the sources of the
smear campaign against Gibson, and how they are attempting to twist facts to create doubts at
to his motivations. Perhaps it is not Gibson and Huang who should be mentioned with regard to
transparency as far as political funding sources....perhaps they should be used as a model for
the necessary change.

RACE FOR THE BELIZE UDP PARTY LEADER IS ON FOR 2014

RACE FOR THE BELIZE UDP PARTY LEADER IS ON FOR 2014

 

The race for Deputy Party Leader of the United Democratic Party is soon to enter the home stretch leg with the finish line set for February 17th.  Two of the ruling UDP Ministers have entered their names contesting the seat of Deputy Party Leader, the second most powerful seat within the party’s hierarchy.  It is widely known that the one that holds the DPL’s seat is the chosen one to also be the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Belize.  Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Party Leader of the UDP Gaspar Vega has been challenged by Minister of Education Patrick Faber.

Both men have been canvasing the 31 constituencies and visiting with the delegates in efforts to garner support for their candidacy. Faber has publicly gone on record stating that he believes he can do a much better job at the post of Deputy Party Leader than the current holder.  Well, in what has been dubbed as the game changer, Prime Minister of Belize and Leader of the UDP went on record stating that he does not support Minister of Education Patrick Faber.  Barrow said and we quote, “I have said that while Minister Faber is, I think, an extremely well-qualified and able minister, while I think that he has a glorious leadership future in the United Democratic Party, at this time, and for this contest, I do not support him, end of story.” And that’s also the end of the quote.

Barrow went on to say that one of the major reasons for Faber not being his choice at this moment is because of Faber’s skin color and geographic location within Belize.  Barrow says that the hierarchy of the Party must be equally distributed to the districts along with a diverse composition of ethnicities.  Well, our editor here at CTV-3 news takes that to mean that the UDP Leader and Prime Minister of this country has decided to endorse looks over brains.  If the reasons for his decision are solely based on ethnicity and geographic location, Belize is in for some darker days ahead.  Leadership should not be about how one looks or where they are from, but rather, how they lead.  But that’s for another story on another day.

While Faber does not count on the support of UDP Leader Dean Barrow, he does count on the support of several big wig names within the party.  Former Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel, Dean Lindo and Mesopotamia Representative and Senior member of the party Michael Finnegan,  have all come out in full support of Patrick Faber’s bid for Deputy Party Leader.  Dean Barrow’s support for Vega struck through the political circuits of the UDP as hard hitting as a chess player saying Check.  It will be interesting to see if this move was not one of the flexing of the political muscle by Barrow who is sending a message to the rank and file of the Party; what that message is, we are sure to find out in the days ahead.

http://www.ctv3belizenews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2451:race-for-udp-deputy-party-leader-is-on&catid=46:featured-news&Itemid=102

Also in the race for Cayo south which is predicted to be a good one, is Ralph Huang which will be determined on February 16th of 2014 at Roaring Creek.

Lord Gibson and Associates back Ralph Huang for the UDP and Belize Elections

The Following endorsement has been released by Lord Neil B Gibson and Associates.

January 3, 2014

To Whom This May Concern

Re: Mr. Ralph Huang for Stander Bearer Political Endorsement

Our business organizations would honorably like to declare our political and financial support of Mr. Ralph Huang’s candidacy for the position of Stander Bearer in Cayo South Constituency Area representative Slated Convention United Democratic Party in Belize.

 In these last five years, our organizations have worked closely with Ralph Huang in business and financial ventures. We have found Ralph to be an extremely strong professional with an extensive range of understanding of Belize, on economic impact values. 

Ralph Huang is trustworthy, honest and dedicated in investing precious hours required for this governmental position. Our organizations are confident that Ralph is the only deserving candidate for this office.

 Furthermore, our organizations have had ample opportunities in the last 5-years to analyze our future economic benefits and objectives of the various economic executions into the country of Belize. We have found Ralph's honest insight and practical approach for future country growth, with our country’s desire to invest into Belize. 

This distinction sets him apart from the other individual’s that we have dealt with in the past, to ensure our organizations future commitment to execute our organizations’ to invest into the country of Belize. Ralph Huang has shown great concern for the residents of the community and the willingness to listen to people's problems and challenges which is commendable.

 Again, we are writing today to show our allegiance and support of Ralph Huang and his campaign. It will also be an honor to spread the word of Ralph’s candidacy, abilities and competence with other global business networks to support Ralph.

We are confident that Ralph Huang will succeed and bring the Country of Belize the global

economic growth the country needs to strive forward.

Respectfully,

SFBBL TRUST AG www.sfbblag.com

VISION BANKCARD www.vbci.com

LNBG, LLC (USA) www.lnbgllc.com

CITYWIDE LENDING GROUP www.citywidelgi.com

HULET AND ASSOCIATES scott@hulet.net

FOR EVERY SEASON INSURANCE www.foreveryseason.biz

LORD NEIL B GIBSON www.lordgibson.co.uk

TAMMY LIER ENTERTAINMENT GROUP www.tammylier.com