Defense Ministry Paid J&J Imports $1.1M Through Repeated Small Invoices

The paper trail keeps growing. First, leaked Smart Stream invoices exposed a pattern of government payments to suppliers connected to the Ministry of Defense. Now, another name has surfaced: J&J Imports. Records reviewed by News Five show that between 2022 and 2025, the company collected more than one point one million dollars from the Ministry of Defense, much of it through repeated invoices kept below the ten-thousand-dollar mark. The leaked documents also show that Enrique Javier Requena, who is linked to J&J Imports, received more than two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars through similar transactions. As more details emerge, so do the questions: Who was approving these payments? Why were so many invoices kept under ten thousand dollars? And what role did political connections play in the process? Tonight, scrutiny shifts to the people behind J&J Imports and the officials who signed off on the spending. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

News Five has told you about the Mira Family Millions, more than nine million dollars paid out to the Mira siblings and associated businesses through the Ministry of Defense. These payments were made primarily under questionable circumstances. Since that multi-million-dollar revelation, new businesses and individuals have entered the picture. Kukulcan Company Limited, a business with alleged ties to the Minister of National Defense, Florencio Marin, earned more than one point seven million dollars through the government. One point four million directly from the Ministry of Defense, also through corrupt payment practices. And this figure is likely higher. Tonight, the spotlight turns to J&J Imports.

 

One hundred and sixty-three leaked Smart Stream Invoices shows that the company earned over one point one million dollars, primarily through sub ten thousand-dollar invoices paid by the Ministry of Defense. The records reflect payments across 2022 to 2025. Thirty-seven newly leaked Smart Stream Invoices also names Enrique Javier Requena, who earned upwards of two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars from the Ministry of Defense, through 2021 and 2022, again primarily through invoices multiple below ten thousand dollars in single days.  Even more alarming is that Enrique Javier Requena is believed to be the owner behind J&J Imports and is a relative of PUP Area Representative for Orange Walk North, Ramon “Monchie” Cervantes, which he confirmed today. But when we asked Cervantes about his cousin and the business, he denied any involvement.

 

Shane Williams

“What is your relation to Enrique and Jamir Requena from J&J Imports?”

 

Ramon “Monchi” Cervantes, Area Representative, Orange Walk North

“Enrique? I know Jamir Requena. He is my second cousin and the son of my cousin then.”

 

Shane Williams

“Were you instrumental in them receiving any contracts from the Ministry of Defense?”

 

Ramon “Monchi” Cervantes

“No, not at all, I had nothing to do with it.”

 

Reporter

“So you had no involvement in them getting the supply arrangement, they are the owners of J&J Imports.”

 

Ramon “Monchi” Cervantes

“No, I had no involvement in that, anymore, at all.”

 

And while Cervantes is distancing himself from the scandal, the leaked J&J Imports and Requena invoices are revealing. On the twenty-first of July, when three payments below ten thousand dollars were made to J&J Imports, the Ministry of Defense also paid Enrique Javier Requena for thirteen sub-ten thousand dollars invoices. So that’s, $16,287.27 for J&J Imports on July 21, 2022, and $93,061.59 for Enrique Javier Requena on the same day, for a total combined payout of $109,348.86 on a single day between Enriquez and J&J Imports. The leaked invoice also shows that Requena did business with the Office of the Prime Minister on December fifteen, 2021, to the tune of ten thousand dollars. Tonight, PM Briceno says any wrongdoing unearthed will demand answers.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño  

“We made a promise that we are going to be different and as Prime Minister I think it was my responsibility to act quickly. I did not try to hide anything or push it aside. Once that came to my attention, I had to act and both former ministers are people I know over years. but we have a compact with the Belizean people that we will be different. The Auditor General is starting to compile all information. The CEO, CEO Usher has assured me that they are complying to the full extent and the auditor general will do a full investigation and if there was any wrong doing, be it public officers or politicians, they will have to answer.”

 

The audit into the Ministry of Defense finances is expected to last for ninety days. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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