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.”