Court Puts Half of Beeline’s US$445K Judgement on Hold While It Appeals
A High Court judge has put half of a US$445,836.35 judgement against Beeline Belize Limited on hold while the company appeals, leaving the other half open to enforcement.
Justice Nadine Nabie ruled on October 8, after a hearing on June 29. The case was brought by Jennifer Garcia and Bugi Holdings Belize Limited over the sale of a property in Placencia.
On March 30, 2026, the court found for Garcia and Bugi Holdings and awarded them US$445,836.35 plus interest. Beeline filed its appeal on April 13 and asked for the whole order to be paused until the Court of Appeal decides.
The claimants say they paid a 40 per cent deposit of US$216,000 in November 2021, then made monthly payments from November 2022 to August 2023, and improved the property. They say they have been without that money since 2021.
Beeline argued that it would suffer exceptional hardship if it had to pay now. It also pointed to a caution the claimants placed on the property, which a court ordered removed and which came off on April 8. Beeline says the caution exposed it to a separate US$690,630.05 claim from third parties and that it plans to claim damages from the claimants. It also said Garcia lives in the United States and that there is no reciprocal enforcement arrangement between Belize and the U.S.
Nabie rejected the separate claim as a reason to pause the judgement, saying it is unproven and has no bearing on money already owed. She found that Beeline’s appeal has “real prospects of success”, because its arguments on the “subject to contract” negotiations and on part performance are arguable. But she said Beeline gave no financial records to show it would be ruined or unable to pursue the appeal.
“The Court cannot infer ruin, stifling of the appeal, or exceptional hardship from the size of the award alone.”
On whether Garcia and Bugi Holdings could repay the money if the appeal succeeds, she said living abroad doesn’t mean being unable to pay. Bugi Holdings, a Belize company, owns a boat valued at BZ$120,000, far less than the judgement, and the claimants offered no wider proof of their finances.
“This Court orders that there be a stay of execution of 50% of the judgement sum.”