Belize Prime Minister Orders Audit Into Payments to Brother

Prime Minister John Briceño denied facilitating government payments to his brother, Javier Briceño, and his brother's partner, Addy Del Carmen Ku. The allegations surfaced following reports of entries in the SmartStream system indicating that Javier Briceño received approximately $18,000 to $21,000, while Ku received $255,000.

Briceño stated he was unaware of the specific amounts and maintained that he did not instruct ministers to provide assistance to his brother. To address the reports, he instructed the Financial Secretary to task the Auditor General with conducting a full investigation into the matter, asserting that anyone found to have acted wrongly must be held accountable.

Leaked documents from the Companies Register indicate that Javier Briceño and Addy Del Carmen Ku registered a firm called Hugo Engineering and Construction Services Limited on April 4, 2023. The company is currently listed as inactive.