Stuart Leslie Named in Widening Defense Procurement Scandal

The questions surrounding the Ministry of Defense’s spending are getting harder to dismiss. Leaked documents reviewed by News Five now link Cabinet Secretary Stuart Leslie to a company that received more than eighty-five thousand dollars from the ministry. The records show the same under-ten-thousand-dollar invoices that have appeared in other questionable payments, along with seven identical payouts made on the same day and a pending payment of nearly fifty thousand dollars. Officials deny any contract steering, but as more politically connected suppliers emerge, so do concerns about who really benefited from the ministry’s procurement practices. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Cabinet Secretary Stuart Leslie has joined the names of government officials identified in the ongoing Ministry of Defense procurement scandal. News Five has confirmed that Leslie is the director of RSL Group Limited, a company that has received just over eight-five thousand dollars in payments from the Ministry of Defense between May and June of 2026. And, according to the leaked invoices the same under-ten-thousand dollars invoice pattern persists with these payments. The leaked documents also reveal a pending payment for just over forty-nine thousand dollars, as well as seven identical payments of six thousand nine hundred and forty-one dollars, paid out on June 4^th. So, what did RSL provide for the BDF? According to sales order leaked to News Five, the company provided a variety of seasonings. We reached out to Cab Sec Stuart Leslie who confirmed in partnership with the company. Leslie contends that as director, he is not involved in the day-to-day running of the business. He denies calling the Ministry of Defense to facilitate any agreement, further nothing that the business went through the legitimate bidding process and was initially denied, until the ministry called back and requested its service. Leslie says the company is legitimate and owned by a family he knows very well.

 

And while Leslie has distanced himself from RSL Group Ltd.’s dealings with the Ministry of Defense, his name is now added to a list of government officials who have denied involvement in similar ministry dealings with companies owned either by their relative of constituents. The list is growing. Prime Minister John Briceno said this about Javier Briceno and Addy Ku.

 

On the Phone: Prime Minister John Briceño (File: July 9^th, 2026)

“Just like how I did not know what the Mira family was getting and what Florencio and all of them were doing, I do not know.”

 

Florencio Marin Junior is on administrative leave from his post as Minister of Defense. Just days before his leave, he made these remarks.

 

Florencio Marin Jr., Minister of Defense (File: June 26^th, 2026)

“I am prepared to speak but please let’s have the audit finished first. Right now it is ongoing.”

 

Oscar Mira, a former Minister of Defense, also denied involvement in several of his siblings being awarded ministry supply contracts.

 

Oscar Mira, Area Representative, Belmopan (File: July 1^st, 2026)

“I am confident that I did not involve anything from me. I did not, I was not the one you know.”

 

Minister of State Ramon “Monchi” Cervantes took a similar position when questioned about his familial ties to the proprietors of J&J Imports and the company’s ministry supply contracts.

 

Shane Williams

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

 

Ramon “Monchi” Cervantes (File: July 3^rd, 2026)

“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, Minister of State, Ministry of Education

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

 

And Ministry of Defense Chief Executive Officer had a similar response when asked about Meat Master’s supply contract. Meat Master is owned by his wife’s cousin.

 

Francis Usher, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Defense (File: July 8^th, 2026)

“My first thought was wow, if people thought that I was involved in the evaluation process this good look bad. But at the end of the day, and the evaluation committee can confirm this, they went through the evaluation process like everyone else.”

 

Everyone questioned so far has denied any hand in the Ministry of Defense procurement scandal. But the Smart Stream leaks reveal a pattern that is hard to ignore. Eight of the companies and individuals named in the documents are from northern Belize, and six are based in Orange Walk Town, the same municipality where the Prime Minister’s constituency is located. RSL Group Limited, Javier Briceno and Addy Ku, Meat Master, J&J Imports, and Enrique Javier Requena all list Orange Walk addresses. Two others, A&Y Fresh Vegetable and Kukulcan Company Limited, are located in Florencio Marin’s Corozal Northeast constituency. So tonight, the question is not only who got paid, but why so many of those payments appear to point north. 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.

 

Watch the full newscast here: