Belize: Playground for international criminals

BBN Staff: The news this weekend of Pastor Llewlyn Lucas’ unbelievable death and beheading has rocked the country. It is an absolutely stunning crime, one that seems to have many layers, and it becomes even more complicated as more details begin to emerge.

Investigators have pledged to bring those responsible for this incredibly vicious crime to justice as several suspects are already in custody, according to police. And as the investigation zeros in on the suspect found with Lucas’ head in his truck, William Mason, details about the suspect make the case even more complex. Mason is a foreign national with several aliases who, by all accounts, has lived a very fortuitous and comfortable life in Belize.

It is a story not unlike the case of one David Nanes Schnitzer, the American fugitive wanted for his role in a multi-million dollar ponzi-scheme, who was somehow able to obtain Belizean nationality documents as he evaded authorities in the United States and Mexico before ultimately being arrested in Belize, released on bail against better judgment and slipped through the fingers of Belizean authorities without much trouble. Mason, unlike Schnitzer, however, is accused of a much more violent and horrifying crime: the decapitation of a man’s head, a pastor no-less, which he drove around with in the back of his truck.

But Mason is no stranger to controversy either. Documents obtained by the media show that he is a Guyanese national whose real name is Rajesh Oullet. He is also the subject of an online RipOff Report, where numerous people claim to have been scammed by Oullet. Furthermore, Oullet reportedly possesses a birth certificate stating he was born in Crooked Tree, Belize and is a licensed firearm holder. It has also been reported that he was able to obtain Belize nationality in record time after arriving. The birth paper was issued in June 2015. In July 2015 he applied for a gun license where he was named as a Belizean but his passport number was omitted.

At this morning’s Ministry of National Security press conference acting Police Commissioner Russel Blackett revealed that Oullet had been the subject of an investigation over the past month for the attempted kidnapping of a Canadian national and his wife. But Oullet is well-known in Belize, especially in political circles, so why was he not apprehended sooner?

Minister of National Security John Saldivar, at the same press conference, acknowledged that Oullet had been a contributor to his Belmopan Bandits football team. He also acknowledged that Oullet has contributed to several other people, presumably politicians, for various causes. Saldivar, however, maintains that his relationship with Oullet was based solely in regards to his football team. In fact, Saldivar said, he has had no contact with Oullet since last September after he was provided with background information which suggested that he ought not to interact with Oullet. It is also reported that Oullet hosted many politicians at his home in Belmopan too.

Saldivar said he was made aware of some of the unsavory allegations against Oullet, who he knew as Mason, but there was never anything to suggest any criminal involvement. When asked if he was prompted to have any investigation of Oullet launched after learning about the allegations against him, Saldivar said he was informed by the police so he never felt the need to do so.

The media has reported that a large sum of cash was found in Oullet’s truck along with his licensed firearms. Blackett, however, said he was not able to disclose how much money was found but did say that it was “nothing substantial”. He added, though, that a search of his farm resulted in the discovery of what appears to be charred human remains, presumably that of Lucas.

In his address at the press conference, Saldivar also spoke about the general state of crime in the country and mentioned that the ministry would be establishing a unit within the police department to investigate police officers allied with gangs. But what really needs to be investigated are the people who are selling Belizean nationality to international criminals and fugitives without conducting so much as basic screening. One Google search of this man yielded the RipOff Report. Or maybe they are completely aware of who they are selling our Belizean nationality to, and that makes it even sadder.

Perhaps this is the reason so many unsavory characters are flocking to Belize, because they know they can depend on being enabled and facilitated once money is involved, however unsubstantial. Schnitzer was not the first and Oullet will not be the last.

To all the ordinary Belizean citizens, if you were found with a dead man’s head in your truck, what type of treatment do you believe you would receive? Would it have taken police an entire month to apprehend you after being accused of an attempted kidnapping of a Canadian and his wife? Or would you have been beaten like Zachary Knox and left in a critical condition, unable to make it to your arraignment?

Sound off Belizean people.

 

 

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