By Aaron Humes: In 2020, Belize’s beloved Boledo lottery landed in the middle of an ownership scandal when the majority silent partner in the Brads Gaming Company Limited lottery franchise was revealed to be Good Lee Limited, based in Saint Lucia in the Eastern Caribbean.
The identities of the people behind Good Lee remain unknown to this day, protected by Belize’s beneficial ownership rules. Meanwhile, they were benefitting from the profits made by sales of Boledo and Ordinary Lottery, while the Government collected just $2 million per year.
For reasons that are unclear, Good Lee Limited closed, and a Cayman Islands-based company, Countach Limited, bought shares in Brads sometime between 2020 and 2023. The people who ran Countach are also unknown to Belizeans.
The Government revoked Brads’ license in April 2023, several months after citing “material and substantial breaches of the conditions of the exclusive license, and the Lotteries Act and its regulations.”
In 2023, the Government settled with Brads and took over Boledo and Ordinary Lottery under a new name, Belize Government Lotteries Limited. Today, a percentage of the revenue – over $100 million from November 2023 to November 2024 – goes to the National Health Insurance program and the Official Charities Fund.
The controversy may have been the first time many Belizeans ever heard of beneficial ownership, a practice that conceals the true owners of a company – in this case, Good Lee Limited – from the public. But the current Government, some charge, appears to have learned little from the Brads case.
Having taken power in 2020, PUP leaders chose to preserve and expand a system that places beneficial ownership information beyond public reach, allowing companies operating in Belize to remain shrouded in secrecy, and essentially condoning similar actions the party frowned upon while in the Opposition.
This article examines how Belize’s beneficial ownership regime has shifted since the Boledo scandal and whether new laws meant to modernize company records have instead entrenched secrecy. This story looks at how public access to company ownership information was rolled back, and what that means for transparency, accountability, and the public’s right to know who is doing business in Belize.
Then and now
Anyone wanting information about company ownership used to be able to get it from the Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry (BCCAR) in Belmopan–for free in person or for $25 via email.
Under the renewed Companies Act of 2022, a new system limits public access to information from BCCAR, which registers both International Business Companies–known as IBCs–and local businesses.
The changes sparked outcry from the legal fraternity, who complained to journalists about public transparency versus corporate secrecy. In 2022, representatives of the Belizean news media publicly pointed out the harm in such a move. Jules Vasquez, News Director of Channel 7 News, said the modifications, presented as modernization and digitization efforts for BCCAR, instead regressed public access to essential company information.
Specifically, starting in 2023, the new Beneficial Ownership Registry (BOR) curtailed access to beneficial ownership details. Only people representing specific regulatory and government entities–the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and the Belize Tax Department–can view the records.
According to a 2024 report from Global Financial Integrity (which has an office in Belize), the general public can only access limited information via a “short extract.” Detailed information, or a “long extract,” is largely confidential.
In 2022, KREM News Editor Marisol Amaya said that the extract system limits the ability to verify transactions, such as the sale of shares, and restricts access to critical information regarding company ownership.
Vasquez decried the move to the BOR as one of the most “retrograde and anti-public transparency maneuvers” he has witnessed. The general public, he argued, deserves to know who is behind corporate entities, particularly when those individuals may be politically exposed persons–individuals who, through their personal ties to government officials, may be uniquely positioned to benefit from their status.
Vasquez declared that “perfect secrecy” now envelops public companies in Belize, allowing unrestrained actions by individuals behind these entities. This includes potentially nefarious dealings—a sharp contrast to global trends advocating for transparency in business operations.
For Part 2 of this story, see here.
This article was made possible through the support of Global Financial Integrity, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank focused on illicit financial flows, corruption, illicit trade, and money laundering, and was facilitated by the Belize Network of NGOs. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the supporting organizations or their partners.
The post Perfect Secrecy: Laws Keep People in The Dark About Businesses Operating in Belize (Part one of two) appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Aaron Humes: In 2020, Belize’s beloved Boledo lottery landed in the middle of an ownership scandal when the majority silent partner in the Brads Gaming Company Limited lottery franchise was revealed to be Good Lee Limited, based in Saint Lucia in the Eastern Caribbean. The identities of the people behind Good Lee remain unknown
The post Perfect Secrecy: Laws Keep People in The Dark About Businesses Operating in Belize (Part one of two) appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
