By Breaking Belize News Staff: The immigration cashier wanted by police in connection with a major theft investigation at the Department of Immigration is no longer in Belize, according to Minister of Immigration and Labour Kareem Musa, who says the man has been dismissed from government service and that authorities already hold enough evidence to charge him.
Jason Flowers remains the subject of a police warning poster issued in connection with the investigation. Asked by reporter Jomarie Lanza for an update on the case, Musa revealed that the trail now leads abroad. “We have information that he is currently in the United States of America,” the Minister said. “He has been dismissed from his work as an immigration cashier. So he’s no longer in the employment of the Government of Belize.”
Musa explained that the internal phase of the investigation is complete. “The investigation has completed, at least the initial phase of it from an internal standpoint, meaning the Ministry of Immigration, our finance officer has given a statement to police, and that is what prompted police to issue the warning poster for Mr. Flowers,” he said.
According to the Minister, the evidence gathered so far centres on financial records. “We have enough information to charge him based on some of the invoices, some of the canceled, reversed invoices,” Musa stated, while signalling that the full picture is still being assembled. “In terms of the entire scope of the scheme that he was operating, we have requested the Auditor General’s Ministry to come in and do a proper audit. We want to get it right out of the gate.”
That audit is already underway. Musa confirmed the Auditor General’s Department is at the Ministry carrying out its investigation, and set out what its conclusion will deliver: “We will have every single invoice that was reversed by him and/or others taking part in this scheme, and then we’ll be able to levy all the charges at that point.”
The Minister’s phrasing, “and/or others,” leaves open the possibility that the investigation could reach beyond a single employee, a question the audit will presumably settle.
The case adds to a season of heightened scrutiny of public funds, with the Auditor General’s office now engaged on multiple fronts across government. Breaking Belize News will continue to follow the investigation.
The post Wanted immigration cashier has fled to the US, Minister says appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: The immigration cashier wanted by police in connection with a major theft investigation at the Department of Immigration is no longer in Belize, according to Minister of Immigration and Labour Kareem Musa, who says the man has been dismissed from government service and that authorities already hold enough evidence to
The post Wanted immigration cashier has fled to the US, Minister says appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
