The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, but the government did not implement the law effectively. Media reported several allegations of corruption against officials during the year. Officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.

Corruption: Media and private citizens reported government corruption was widespread and endorsed at the highest levels of government. In September, Prime Minister Browne and a prominent member of his political party traded public and specific accusations of corruption in government procurement and other areas that neither person refuted. The Citizenship by Investment Program was a critical source of government revenue, but its lack of transparency fueled citizen concerns concerning oversight and corruption.

Financial Disclosure: The law requires elected public officials to disclose all income, assets, and personal gifts received in the course of their public functions to the Integrity Commission. The disclosures are confidential. The commission has the power to investigate public officials without a formal complaint being filed.

The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, and the government generally implemented the law effectively. There was limited enforcement of conflicts of interest related to government contracts. There were isolated reports of government corruption during the year where officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices, including accepting small-scale “bribes of convenience,” with impunity.

Corruption: The campaign finance system was largely unregulated, with few safeguards against quid pro quo donations, creating a vulnerability to corruption and foreign influence. The procurement process was susceptible to corruption, since it contains no requirement to engage in open public tenders. Nevertheless, the government routinely issued open public tenders. The government encouraged value added tax-registered businesses to sign up for the electronic bidding platform, which the Ministry of Finance introduced in 2019 to increase public procurement transparency.

The government reported no new cases of corruption in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The trial for a bribery case against a former high-level government official, scheduled to begin in March, was delayed due to COVID-19. A second trial for a money-laundering case against a former official was also delayed due to the pandemic. The trials had yet to be held by year’s end.

Corruption in the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services and the Carmichael Road Detention Centre was a long-standing problem, with allegations by both detainees and officials.

Financial Disclosure: The Public Disclosure Act requires senior public officials, including senators and members of Parliament, to declare their assets, income, and liabilities annually. The government gave extensions to all who were late to comply. The government did not publish a summary of the individual declarations, and there was no independent verification of the information submitted.

The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, but the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. There were numerous reports of government corruption during the year.

Corruption: Allegations of corruption in government among public officials, including ministers, deputy ministers, and chief executive officers, were numerous, although no substantial proof was presented in most cases. In January the country’s consul general in New York, Herman Longsworth, was fired after an audit of the National Sports Council revealed a number of financial infractions, one of which directly involved Longsworth. The auditor general’s report stated Longsworth may have illegally used official influence in support of a scheme from which he benefited. The investigation continued as of October.

In February minister of national security and newly elected leader of the United Democratic Party John Saldivar was forced to resign when court documents revealed that he received large sums of money from a U.S. citizen accused of defrauding the U.S. government of tax in return for political favors in Belize. Saldivar remained area representative for Belmopan and an active legislator. The commissioner of police stated the BPD would initiate an investigation into the matter and press charges, but as of October no charges had been filed.

The Senate Select Committee presented its report and recommendations on an investigation, initiated in 2017, of the Immigration and Nationality Department conducted by the Office of the Auditor General. The report confirmed the department had a pattern of improper and illegal issuances of Belizean visas, passports, and citizenship. The committee conducted public hearings in 2017 that revealed several instances where high-ranking government officials, including ministers of government, approved the issuance of visas, citizenship, and passports to unqualified individuals. As of October no charges had been filed against anyone as a result of the report.

Andre Vega, son of former deputy prime minister Gaspar Vega, refused to pay 400,000 Belize dollars ($200,000) that the court found he unduly received from the government as compensation from a dubious land transaction in 2016. As of October the case was before the Court of Appeals for consideration.

Financial Disclosure: The law requires public officials to submit annual financial disclosure statements, which the Integrity Commission reviews. At the same time, the constitution allows authorities to prohibit citizens from questioning the validity of such statements. Anyone who does so outside the rigidly prescribed procedure is subject to a moderate fine, three years’ imprisonment, or both. Many public officials did not submit annual financial disclosure statements and suffered no repercussions. As of July only 28 percent of government members required to declare their assets to the Integrity Commission had done so for 2019-20. In accordance with the law, a report was also sent to the director of public prosecution for further action, but as of October no actions had been taken.

Under the previous administration, the Integrity Commission was compromised by scandal, as the commission’s chairperson, Nestor Vasquez, was dismissed following credible accusations of corruption, impunity, transfer of government assets to private ownership, and nepotism.

In July the opposition and majority of the independent senators objected to the reinstating of Deshawn Arzu-Torres as chair of the Integrity Commission for another two years. Senators raised the concern that Arzu-Torres had unsatisfactorily fulfilled her responsibilities and failed to produce reports to the National Assembly. Despite the objections, the National Assembly approved her reappointment.

In September Nestor Vasquez, CEO of state-owned Belize Telecommunications Limited (BTL), was embroiled in a corruption and embezzlement scandal moving BTL properties to his personal holdings and charging more than 800,000 Belize dollars ($400,000) to his corporate credit card for personal uses. Vasquez also served as chairman of the Social Security Board, was a member of the anticorruption Integrity Commission, and a member of the Central Bank of Belize. The BTL board removed Vasquez, and he resigned from his government posts, although he remained under investigation by the BTL board and the Office of the Prime Minister.

The law provides criminal penalties for corruption. The government was highly sensitive to corruption allegations and often conducted anticorruption crackdowns.

Corruption: The law provides for three to eight years’ imprisonment for “illegal enrichment” by authorities or government employees. The government did not implement the law effectively, and officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. There were numerous reports of police and other official corruption in enforcement of economic restrictions and provision of government services. For example, employees frequently stole products from government stocks and sold them on the black market. Multiple persons reported that when searching homes and vehicles, police sometimes took the owners’ belongings or sought bribes in exchange for not imposing fines or arrests. Corruption by customs officers was also reportedly common.

Financial Disclosure: The law does not require appointed and elected officials to disclose their assets.

The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, but the government implemented the law inconsistently. According to civil society representatives and members of the political opposition, officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.

Corruption: Local media and opposition leadership continued to raise allegations of corruption within the government, including in the Citizenship by Investment program.

Financial Disclosure: The law requires senior government officials to account annually for their income, assets, and gifts. All offenses under the law, including the late filing of declarations, are criminal offenses. The Integrity Commission generally reported on late submissions and on inappropriately completed forms but did not share financial disclosures with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions or the general public.

The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials. The government did not implement the law effectively, and officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The attorney general investigated allegedly corrupt officials.

NGO representatives said the greatest hindrance to effective investigations was a lack of political will to prosecute individuals accused of corruption, particularly well connected individuals or high-level politicians. Government corruption remained a serious problem and a public grievance.

In compliance with his campaign promise to appoint an independent prosecutor, President Luis Abinader named Miriam German as the new attorney general in August. Following her appointment, German added 19 new members to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office on Administrative Corruption. On November 29, the specialized anticorruption unit arrested 10 individuals closely associated with former president Danilo Medina’s administration on public corruption charges. The prosecution continued at year’s end.

Corruption: The trial against six of the 14 defendants indicted in 2017 for alleged links to $92 million in bribes paid by the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht to obtain public works contracts resumed in September. It was previously scheduled to take place in April but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The six defendants included two former senators, a former lower-house representative, and a former minister of public works. Civil society organizations welcomed the trial as a step forward in the fight against corruption, but activists highlighted what they perceived as a lack of political will thoroughly to investigate the case, which involved the country’s political and economic elites.

NGO representatives criticized the widespread practice of awarding government positions as political patronage. They alleged many civil servants received a government salary without performing any work. In September the Foreign Ministry dismissed 781 officials and stated the majority of them did not fulfill their job duties or did not have the qualifications for the position.

NGOs and individual citizens regularly reported acts of corruption by various law enforcement officials, including police officers, immigration officials, and prison officials. The government on occasion used nonjudicial punishments for corruption, including dismissal or transfer of military personnel, police officers, judges, and minor officials. Widespread acceptance and tolerance of petty corruption, however, hampered anticorruption efforts.

Financial Disclosure: The law requires the president, vice president, members of Congress, some agency heads, and some other officials, including tax and customs duty collectors, to declare their personal property within 30 days of being hired, elected, re-elected, or ending their official responsibilities. These declarations are made public. The constitution further requires public officials to declare the provenance of their property. The Chamber of Accounts is responsible for receiving and reviewing these declarations. On November 27, the government announced the suspension without pay of 36 public officials for failing to submit their sworn declaration of assets on time.

The law provides criminal, civil, and administrative penalties for corruption by officials and was implemented effectively. Nonetheless, there were general allegations, particularly by the political opposition and some media outlets, of government corruption.

Corruption: There were no cases of government corruption during the year.

Financial Disclosure: The law requires all elected officials and members of the Integrity in Public Life Commission to report their income and assets. The commission monitors and verifies disclosures but does not publicly disclose them except in court. The commission must note in the official gazette failure to file a disclosure. If the office holder in question fails to file in response to this notification, the commission may seek a court order to enforce compliance, and a judge may impose conditions as deemed appropriate.

The law provides for criminal penalties for corruption by officials, and the government generally implemented the law effectively. There were isolated reports of government corruption during the year, and administration officials investigated these reports. There remained a widespread public perception of corruption involving officials at all levels, including the police and judiciary.

Corruption: Corruption by police officers was frequent. There were reports the government prosecuted members of the police force during the year. In July the government prosecuted police officer Richard Persaud for extortion. Persaud resigned from the police force in August, and the prosecution against him was underway as of October.

Financial Disclosure: The law requires public officials to declare their assets to an integrity commission and sets out both criminal and administrative sanctions for nondisclosure. If a person fails to file a declaration, the daily newspapers and the official gazette can publish that fact. Failure to comply with the law can lead to a summary conviction, fines, and imprisonment for six to 12 months. If property is not disclosed as required, the magistrate convicting the defendant must order the defendant to make a full disclosure within a set time. Although the integrity commission was reconstituted in 2018, after a 12-year hiatus, it did not appear to be fully functional. No publications or convictions occurred during the first nine months of the year.

The law criminalizes a wide variety of acts of corruption by officials, including illicit enrichment, bribery, embezzlement, illegal procurement, insider trading, influence peddling, and nepotism. There were numerous reports of government corruption and a perception of impunity for abusers. The judicial branch investigated several cases of corruption during the year, but there were no prosecutions. The constitution mandates that the Senate (rather than the judicial system) prosecute high-level officials and members of parliament accused of corruption, but the Senate has never done so. The government’s previous anticorruption strategy expired in 2019, and as of November the government did not have a formal anticorruption strategy.

Corruption: There were many reports of widespread corruption associated with the Petro Caribe petroleum importation program. In July, Youth Minister Max Athys resigned after publicly stating he had found little evidence of the sports facilities for which Petro Caribe funds had been disbursed under the supervision of Olivier Martelly, son of the former president. An August report by the Superior Court of Auditors and Administrative Disputes stated more than 140 billion Haitian gourdes (HTG) ($2 billion) in Petro Caribe funds had been embezzled or wasted in worthless projects.

On August 10, the Center for Human Rights Research and Analysis reported aid worth hundreds of millions of Haitian gourdes meant for the government’s response to COVID-19 had been misappropriated, accusing the government of a vast “operation of corruption, pauperization, and human rights violation.” The center alleged the government had spent at least 2.4 billion HTG ($34 million) in the “greatest opacity” without the approval of the High Court of Public Accounts, the state entity responsible for reviewing and approving government contracts, including during states of emergency.

Financial Disclosure: The law requires all senior government officials to file financial disclosure forms within 90 days of taking office and within 90 days of leaving office. Government officials stated the requirement was not always followed. There is no requirement for interim, periodic reporting during the officials’ terms. Disclosure reports are confidential and not available to the public. The punishment for failure to file financial disclosure reports is withholding 30 percent of the official’s salary, but the government has never applied this sanction.

The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, but the government generally did not implement the law effectively. Officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. There were numerous reports of government corruption during the year, and corruption was a significant problem of public concern. Media and civil society organizations criticized the government for being slow and at times reluctant to prosecute corruption cases.

Corruption: In May, Manchester Parish Court convicted five former local government officials on numerous corruption charges, including conspiracy to commit fraud, possession of criminal property, obtaining money by means of false pretense, issuing forged documents, and engaging in a transaction that involved criminal property. The charges stemmed from 2016 allegations that as employees of the Manchester Parish Council, they used their positions to commit acts of corruption and fraud through parish council contracts for their own benefit. The schemes included the creation and approval of falsified bank checks, invoices, and payment vouchers using false names for contract work on behalf of the parish.

Financial Disclosure: The law requires that members of Parliament, public officials in prescribed positions, and civil servants earning 3.5 million Jamaican dollars ($25,000) or more per year disclose their income, liabilities, and assets annually. There were no reports of noncompliance or that the government sanctioned anyone who failed to disclose.

The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, and the government generally implemented the law effectively.

Corruption: Media and private citizens reported government corruption was occasionally a problem. Citizens expressed concern about the lack of financial oversight of revenues generated by the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program. The government introduced security measures in 2018 to make the CBI process more transparent, and it began vetting investors. The government did not publicize the number of passports issued through CBI or the nationalities of the passport holders.

Financial Disclosure: Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws. The Financial Intelligence Unit and the police white-collar crime unit investigated reports of suspicious financial transactions, but these reports were not available to the public.

The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, and the government generally implemented these laws, but not always effectively. There were isolated reports of government corruption during the year.

Corruption: There were no developments in any major corruption cases.

Financial Disclosure: High-level government officials, including elected officials, must make an annual disclosure of their financial assets to the Integrity Commission, a constitutionally established entity. While authorities do not publicize the disclosure reports filed by individuals, the commission submits a report to parliament each year. The commission publishes the names of noncompliant officials in the newspaper, and fines of up to 50,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars ($18,500) and up to five years’ imprisonment can be imposed for failing to file the disclosure.

The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, but the government did not implement the law effectively. Officials at times engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. NGOs and the opposition party alleged instances of government corruption during the year, including exclusive direction of COVID-19 relief funds and services to political supporters.

Corruption: Allegations of political handouts and other forms of low-level corruption persisted. NGO representatives alleged that multiple COVID-19 relief measures, including programs directed at supporting small businesses and food security, were awarded solely to supporters of the government.

Financial Disclosure: There are no financial disclosure laws for public officials.

The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, and the government implemented the law effectively at times. Cases reported to the Attorney General’s Office were investigated. There were numerous reports that officials engaged in corrupt practices, including accusations from political opponents, civil society, and media.

Corruption: The Bouterse government (2010-2020) was marred by numerous allegations of corruption that reached the highest levels of government. The transition of government brought to light even more alleged cases of corruption. Practically no sector of government remained devoid of allegations, including the Central Bank of Suriname and state-owned companies such as the Postal Bank and the electricity company, EBS.

In January the directors of the Central Bank of Suriname, the president of the supervisory board, and the then minister of finance Gillmore Hoefdraad filed an official complaint against the dismissed governor of the Central Bank, Robert van Trikt, alleging fraud and mismanagement. In early February van Trikt was arrested and charged with corruption, fraud, money laundering, and other offenses. Three more suspects were detained, including a Central Bank director, an accountant and business partner of van Trikt, and the director of the Postal Bank. Hoefdraad was subsequently also identified as a suspect in the case and was formally indicted by the National Assembly in July. In August an arrest warrant was issued for Hoefdraad, who remained at large and was believed to have fled the country.

In July the new government launched investigations into several questionable last-minute land issuances by the previous government that took place during the transition period, including the issuance of titles on the territory of a nature park in Paramaribo. Corruption allegations further included government contracting to political party insiders, lack of transparency in the issuance of mineral and timber concessions, and the use of public power for private gain.

In August members of civil society and nongovernmental organizations filed a formal complaint with the attorney general against the then president of the EBS supervisory board and a business owner, alleging large-scale corruption at the electricity company.

In October the attorney general confirmed that he put in place a special unit within his office to deal with the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases. He further confirmed that his office was investigating 12 of the 20 cases it was presented. The attorney general also identified a need for more expertise to investigate these cases adequately.

Financial Disclosure: The anticorruption legislation includes financial disclosure requirements for certain groups of government officials. The law calls for income, asset, and financial disclosure and gives strict guidelines for submission timeframes. In August a presidential commission was appointed to prepare for the installation of an anticorruption commission, which was to be responsible for implementing the law. The presidential commission was given six months to complete its work.