Ex-Sports Council Accountant Gets 5 Years for $1M Fraud

Former Senior Accountant Ivan Ayuso is still behind bars after admitting to one count of theft and three counts of money laundering. He embezzled over a million dollars from the Government of Belize and has been sentenced by Justice Nigel Pilgrim to four, five-year terms at the Belize Central Prison. These sentences will run concurrently starting from September 27th, 2024. In a detailed twenty-two-page ruling from the High Court, it was decided that the forfeiture of Ayuso’s Belama property will be addressed separately. This comes after an application by the Crown, with his wife, Tanya Savery, who has filed for divorce, stepping in to contest the ownership.