Immigration Officer Denies Extortion Charges as Accusations Surface

Tonight, Monique Meisha Escalante, the Immigration Officer accused of extortion, is out on bail and says she’s innocent. On Saturday, the 31-year-old was charged with the crime of extortion, and today, she was arraigned in the Belize City magistrate’s court. The public servant stands accused of stealing USD 3,000 from Jamaican national Jahnoi Shaun Dhee Richards at the Philip Goldson International Airport on March 15. The foreigner alleges he was forced to put the money inside his passport to be allowed entry into the country. Richards says he complied and was rushed out of the airport. According to police, the 27-year-old cook then reported the incident to Ladyville police, and an investigation was launched. However, Escalante’s attorney, Audrey Matura, says the Jamaican’s version of events was not accurate and explained that her client is being taken advantage of. 

Audrey Matura, Attorney: “It’s interesting what is happening. If the department believes theres a problem up at the airport they need to look into it beyond trying to use my client as a scapegoat and I say that because the second thing is that the facts as it’s being stated is very questionable because according to the records that they will have there is that Mr.Richards who is claiming of making of these allegations came into the country on the 15th of March and I saw the report gave the impression that as this alleged incident happened he ran to the police to get help, that’s not true. He went to the police the 20th of March and what the department and people who are concerned are not saying is that he only made a report after he tried to leave Belize through the Belize Mexico border and the immigration officers there stopped him and then he came up with this story so that’s very important. So it’s not like the reports are trying to make it seem. It so happened then that my client is the one that now is being used as a scapegoat in this matter. I think what is concerning is that this is the most junior person in all the set, this is the most junior person and a junior officer when they’re vetting people that are “flagged” which some Jamaicans are flagged not all Jamaicans are flagged but a lot of the people coming on Copa Airlines through Panama to get to Belize are flagged because they usually use Belize as a transit point to go to the US. So this person was flagged and a junior officer cannot deal with a person or approve anything or do anything with that person without the go ahead of a senior person. And there is a lot more that I don’t want to discuss the details but suffice to say that if he says – because they had to get records of him – if he is saying that he’s gonna be in Belize for seven days, that he showed a return ticket to leave Belize, he tries to leave Belize otherwise he should have been arrested and charged for a false declaration. You have tried to deceive our immigration department but because you were picked up, you were denied the right or the access, not the right the opportunity to go through the border and you realize you’re in trouble then you what will scandalize someone ? And clearly there’s a lot of issues within the department that nobody’s talking about. That it’s not my place to address at this point my place is to represent my client but already no matter what she does she has been scandalized, she has been scandalized that cannot be undone and there’s just more to this case and it’s really tragic that I believe on the bare facts that I was given that the investigation needed to go farther and deeper.”

Last Thursday, police detained Escalante, a resident of the Corozal District who they say refused to take part in an ID parade.