Theft - Channel 5 Belize

Western Dairies Employee Charged Allegedly Staging Robbery

Today, five individuals, including a former employee, were charged in connection with the armed robbery of a Western Dairies delivery truck that took place on Monday in Burrell Boom Village. According to reports, two Western Dairies employees were driving the company vehicle when they were stopped by four men who appeared to be customers. Suddenly, the men pulled out a gun. They climbed into the truck and made off with four thousand, seven hundred and thirty-seven dollars in cash and goods, including an iPhone belonging to one of the employees. The employees involved are twenty-three-year-old Willman Aspinall and forty-one-year-old William Bermudez. Police managed to catch the suspects and have charged Deandre McKoy, Tarique Gillett, Christian Castillo, and Emory Lino with conspiracy to commit robbery. Evidence found on Aspinall has led the police to believe he was involved in the crime, and he has also been charged. Aspinall’s attorney, OJ Elrington, provided more details on the case.

OJ Elrington, Attorney-at-Law

“The persons before the court were charged jointly for robbery and for conspiracy to commit robbery. And so, our argument was that while the, for those who were charged under the offense of robbery, we know that falls under section sixteen of the Crime Control and Justice Act. Our submission was that the one client, Mr. Willman Espinal, was not in the same position since he was solely charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, which we submitted did not fall under section sixteen of the Crime Control and Justice Acts, which prohibits a magistrate from granting bail to an accused. The magistrate agreed that it did not fall under section sixteen. However, she submitted that she would exercise her discretion and not granting bail still. And so obviously now we’re in the process of applying for bail for the defendants in the matter. My client has put on record. He told me, and he said that he submitted when he was interviewed that he was beaten by the police and forced to open a phone. And that he was he was subject to police abuse, essentially that the police were trying to force him to make certain admissions, which he did not agree with.”

Reporter

“And also this client, Mr. Aspinall?”

OJ Elrington

“Yes.”

Reporter

“Is he one of the truck drivers for the company?”

OJ Elrington

“ Yes. He is one of the persons who is a driver for Western dairies, I believe it is.”

San Pedro Employee Charged with Theft of over $500,000

A woman from San Pedro might be looking at jail time if she’s found guilty of theft. Police investigations revealed that thefts happened over several years. The charge against Bethsa Ramirez came after businesswoman Lisa Guerrero reported her in January. Guerrero had hired Ramirez as her personal assistant and bookkeeper but soon discovered alarming issues with her finances. She reported it to the police, and an investigation confirmed several irregularities. Today, A.C.P. Hilberto Romero shared the details with the media.

A.C.P. Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division

“On Tuesday, the 21st day of January 2025, Lisa Guerrero, business owner of El Diamante Limited in San Pedro, made a report to police. She stated that she hired an accountant, one Bethsa Ramirez from 2019 to do work for their business. Thereafter, information was received that some funds were missing. An investigation was carried out. Several checks were obtained, and as a result, Bethsa Ramirez has since been arrested and charged with a crime of theft for the amount of 516, 000 Belize currency. When it was identified then the report was made to us, so that is when the arrest was made. So, it took some time before they found out, but this person had been hired from 2019.”

Ramirez Denied Bail at Court; Remanded to Prison

Today, thirty-four-year-old Bethsa Ramirez appeared in court in San Pedro to face theft charges but was denied bail. Her attorney, Audrey Matura, argued that Ramirez isn’t a flight risk since she’s a naturalized Belizean. Matura will now have to seek bail through the High Court. Meanwhile, Ramirez is spending her first night behind bars. No plea was taken from her, and she was remanded to prison until April twenty-third. Matura has stated that she will apply for bail and that Ramirez will have the opportunity to clear her name.

Audrey Matura, Attorney-at-Law

“Miss Lisa Guerrero, the owner of Le Diamante is claiming that from 2019 to 2023, her employee, which was just an accounts clerk but whom she clearly wants to give the responsibility of an accountant, she’s claiming that this employee took money from her and she’s claiming that there are checks made out to the employee that amounted to some sums more than checks, but there’s this overall discrepancy. A key thing with this: according to my client, definitely this happens in many workplaces, too many times your employer says, let me put a check in your name so you can cash it for me because I need cash for X, Y, and Z. A lot of that happens. But we need for the evidence to come out and we will know what actually transpired. It’s one thing to say you have these charges against a person. It’s not a thing to prove it. Based on the information we got from police, there is not an audited financial statement. And clearly, my client will be able to clear up her name. But in the meantime, of course, it will be all over the place. It might affect her job, we don’t know, but it might affect her reputation, but the thing is, she’s innocent until proven guilty. And if Le Diamante is a properly operating business, you would have been doing your financial audits annually. You would have caught up on something if there’s such a thing that’s happening. But sometimes it’s not about whether you get to prove the case or not. It’s that you go after someone, and you damage their reputation before you have a chance to even defend yourself.”

A Construction Worker is Charged for Illegal Shopping Spree

A twenty-two-year-old construction worker, Peter Amaud Lara, found himself in hot water after being accused of going on a shopping spree with a stolen Atlantic Bank Debit card. Lara, who lives on Central American Boulevard in Belize City, was charged with card theft and appeared in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court. Lara faced three counts of card theft, accused of using Mía Buller’s lost debit card to swipe over three hundred dollars at various stores on December nineteenth, 2024. He allegedly spent twelve dollars at Chens Store and two hundred and forty dollars at Zen Zen Supermarket. Initially, Lara pleaded guilty to the first two counts but changed his plea to not guilty after learning that Buller wanted to drop the charges. In court, Lara explained that he had been at the police station since Friday and handed over the card when the police arrived. He claimed he didn’t steal the card but got it from someone else who asked him to withdraw cash. Buller, the twenty-one-year-old sales agent, confirmed she had received her money back and didn’t want to proceed with the case, stating that Lara was just following someone else’s instructions. Despite Buller’s request to drop the charges, the Chief Magistrate wasn’t convinced that Lara should be let off the hook so easily. Lara was granted bail set at five thousand dollars with two sureties of two thousand, five hundred dollars each. The prosecutor was instructed to investigate further and report back by Lara’s next court date on February eighteenth, 2025.

Female Passenger Drives Off with Taxi from Channel 5 Parking Lot

Police are seeking the public’s help to locate a taxi stolen from Channel Five’s parking lot. The driver of a Toyota Camry taxi arrived with a female passenger and went inside to fill out Gimmie Five tickets, leaving her in the car. After about twenty minutes, the passenger moved to the driver’s seat, reversed the taxi, and drove off, hitting a parked vehicle on her way out. The taxi driver reported the theft to the police, who have since launched an investigation. We’ll keep you updated as this story develops.