Fifty‑One Thousand Dollars Raised, No Hilux Raffle Drawn

A highly promoted raffle, a brand‑new pickup, and tens of thousands of dollars raised, yet no winner, no draw, and now, no clear answers. Tonight, controversy is swirling around the Sub Umbra Floreo Lions Club after a Toyota Hilux raffle that brought in more than fifty‑one thousand dollars was never held. Now, both ticket buyers and members of the club are demanding to know what happened to the money, especially after bank statements revealed accounts holding far less than what was collected. As pressure builds, some Lions Club members are speaking out anonymously, raising serious concerns about missing funds and unexplained withdrawals. Here’s Paul Lopez with the following story.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Controversy continues to build within the Sub Umbra Floreo Lions Club after a planned 2026 Toyota Hilux raffle, one that raised more than fifty‑one thousand dollars, never happened. Ticket buyers, who each paid one hundred dollars, are now demanding to know when refunds will be issued and whether the money is still in the club’s accounts. However, bank statements obtained by News Five show that the club’s combined service and administrative accounts hold far less than what was collected, fueling serious concerns about where the funds went. Several Lions Club members have also come forward to News Five with similar questions, requesting anonymity. That leaves one pressing question, does the money still exist?

 

Voice of: Lion’s Club Member #1

“No, no it does not. It is not in the account and that is the truth. I guess majority persons saw it this morning when they saw that bank statement, it is missing and we can’t explain where it is, we don’t know where it is.”

 

Paul Lopez

“When did it dawn on you that something is off about this raffle?”

 

Voice of Lion’s Club Member #1

“We were made aware that there was no truck, and we were told then lets do a cash prize, but seeing the bank account I was like what cash prize can we give. I was like something is not adding up and the more you go and try seek both sides of the truth it becomes very clear that something very serious is going on.”

 

The Belize Zone Lion’s Club has launched an investigation to determine what happened to the raffle funds and whether anyone should be held accountable. The move followed a Sunday cabinet meeting involving all Lions chapters. While the club hoped to handle the issue internally, the controversy has now drawn intense public scrutiny.

 

Voice of: Lion’s Club Member #1

“Persons are being affected now, their livelihood, their jobs, their reputation and that is not something we can give them back, even if the truth is out and however long the truth comes after that investigation, people need to know now that this is going on.”

 

One member told us the raffle ticket sales generated fifty‑one thousand three hundred dollars. Yet a service bank account reflects only thirty-two thousand dollars.

 

Voice of: Lion’s Club Member #2

“One should have reflected that we sold fifty-one thousand three hundred dollars in ticket sales. Right now it is only reflecting thirty thousand dollars in the account. The thing is the club was made aware last year that we don’t have any access to the account. The bank statement is showing that withdrawals were made from last year to this year, up to march of 2026 thousand of dollars was coming out of the account.”

 

The members argue that there is no credible explanation for the withdrawals. A further assertion is that the treasurer’s name was removed from the account.

 

Voice of: Lion’s Club Member #2

“We were informed that we were locked out of the account, so we didn’t have any access to past account or banking statements or anything like that. We were told that the only thing we can do is to deposit into the account as we cannot take anything out of the account. The treasurer had to write down everything on a document to keep track of what was happening with the account since we did not have any access to the account.”

 

But monies were still being withdrawn from the account. The service account showed the same pattern of withdrawals and deposits throughout February and March.

 

Voice of: Lion’s Club Member #2

“So the total amount deposited is fifty-one thousand three hundred dollars, deposited as in what the treasurer deposited and what people sent through online banking.”

 

The account now holds far less than that amount, and issuing refunds to ticket buyers would effectively bankrupt the club.

 

Voice of: Lion’s Club Member #1

“It is important to get to the truth, because I don’t know how people could sleep knowing what is going on and we are wearing our jackets. It is our identity. How could you wear that jacket and not want to answer to the public. We are public servants when you put that jacket on.”

 

As the investigation continues, uncertainty remains for the hundreds of people who purchased raffle tickets in good faith. 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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