Mystery Surrounds Belize Lottery Jackpot Winners

Doubts linger around last year’s million-dollar jackpot from the Belize Government Lotteries Limited. Fourteen lucky winners walked away with a share of the prize, but who they are remains a mystery. And that confidentiality has critics sounding the alarm about transparency and accountability. The jackpot was celebrated as a major win for the lottery, but months later, the public still doesn’t know the identities of those winners. Skeptics argue that without disclosure, confidence in the system could erode. We pressed the Ministry of Investment’s CEO, Narda Garcia, for answers on why the winners remain anonymous and what’s being done to address public skepticism. Here’s what she had to say…

 

Narda Garcia, Chair, BGLL Board

“I don’t know where they’re getting that. We do not – well we cannot, we don’t want to disclose winners for obvious reasons. We don’t want people to say you’ve just won. The last time, I think it was fourteen people that, that won and we asked them to come to the office and they got their checks because crime is an issue in the country and we don’t want anybody to be negatively impacted by sharing their names or whatnot; but we have our accounts. In fact, today, the audited financials for the last year has are being presented, are laid in front of the National Assembly, the House, and then the Senate, so that we are very transparent on what we do, what we collect, and what we pay out.”

 

The ministry insists everything was above board, but questions linger. For now, the names of the fourteen winners, and the debate over accountability, remain under wraps.