By Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Sept. 18, 2025
   Well-known and much-loved local businessman Andrew Munnings of Munnings Funeral Service, is bringing a lawsuit against the Government of Belize after undergoing an ordeal that included a night at the Belize Central Prison due to what the government has classified as failure to pay taxes owed. His lawsuit, and a lawsuit being brought by freelance journalist, Joseph Ryan Budna, 45, are two of the most recent acts of litigation against the Briceño administration.
  Earlier this week, Munnings was seen in handcuffs at the Belize Magistrate’s Court for allegedly owing the government over $183,000 in unpaid taxes. Munnings’ funeral service had been included on a list of businesses with outstanding taxes due to the Belize Tax Service (BTS).
  Munnings, who subsequently spent an overnight at the Belize Central Prison before being released the following day, is claiming that that the BTS’ calculation of the taxes owed to them is inaccurate and does not reflect his actual earnings. He has thus secured the services of Courtenay Coye LLP to file a lawsuit against the Government of Belize and the Director General of the Belize Tax Services Department.
  His attorney claims that Munnings was taxed on money he collected on behalf of other service providers, which was passed on to those providers, and that the BTS doesn’t have the authority to tax a person for services they didn’t perform or for revenue they did not earn.
  In Budna’s case, he is accusing several members of the Government of Belize of orchestrating his abduction, which occurred in August of this year, in front of the Orange Walk Police Station, and led to his transferral to a prison in Guatemala, from which he had escaped after being sentenced to an extended prison term for kidnapping and other offenses.
  Four men ambushed Budna, and they then beat him and forced him into a vehicle, after which he was transferred to Guatemalan authorities in Arenal. Budna is pointing fingers at several key officials within the Belize Police Department, including Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police, who is currently suspended for a 45-day period while an investigation takes place.
  Other persons listed in the lawsuit include Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs, and police constable Barry Flowers, along with two others who were supposedly in the abduction team, and several other police officers, as well as Anthony Sylvestre, Attorney General of Belize.
  The suit is claiming that Budna was unlawfully arrested, tortured, denied assistance, kidnapped, and expelled from Belize to Guatemala, and it requests the court to order the government to ensure Budna’s return to Belize.
  The security cameras on several government buildings are alleged to have captured the entire incident, but only a low-resolution edited version has so far been released.
  The suit is filed by three attorneys: Arthur Saldivar, Michelle Trapp, and Emmertice Anderson.
