By Belize Live News Staff: Opposition Leader Tracy Taegar Panton is putting a reported BZ$40 million loan from Holy Redeemer Credit Union to Belize Electricity Limited under the microscope and calling for an independent review of the transaction.
Panton says BEL’s audited financial statements reportedly show that HRCU provided the government owned electricity company with an unsecured loan carrying an effective annual interest rate of 5 percent and a repayment period of 60 months.
For Panton, the size and reported terms of the loan demand answers.
She wants to know who negotiated the deal, who approved it, what lending policies were applied and why a loan involving tens of millions of dollars in credit union funds was reportedly made without security.
Panton also raised the issue of fairness, questioning whether HRCU’s ordinary members could obtain similarly favourable financing.
The Opposition Leader is demanding that BEL, HRCU and the appropriate regulatory authorities make the relevant records public, including information on approvals, risk assessments, repayment arrangements and safeguards protecting HRCU.
As an HRCU member herself, Panton said the issue goes directly to responsible stewardship of members’ savings.
She is calling for an independent examination to establish the facts and determine whether there was any breach of policy, regulation, law or fiduciary responsibility.
No evidence of wrongdoing was presented in Panton’s statement. Her intervention instead calls for greater disclosure to determine whether the transaction was properly approved and whether members’ funds were adequately protected.
