A growing procurement scandal within Belize’s Ministry of Defence has pulled another high-ranking government official into public scrutiny, just weeks after initial questions emerged about the department’s questionable contracting practices.
As of July 17, 2026, local independent outlet News Five has verified that Stuart Leslie, the country’s sitting Cabinet Secretary, holds a director position at RSL Group Limited – a private firm that collected more than $85,000 in payments from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) across May and June of this year. The company is one of dozens of entities named in a cache of leaked procurement documents that are now at the center of a growing probe into the MOD’s spending practices.
The most alarming detail unearthed by News Five’s investigation centers on a pattern of intentional invoice splitting designed to evade official procurement oversight. Belize’s public procurement rules require competitive bidding for any contract valued above $10,000, but documents show RSL Group received seven identical payments of $6,941 all issued on June 4, a structure that deliberately keeps each transaction below the mandatory bidding threshold. On top of these seven payments, a separate pending payout to the firm exceeds $49,000, bringing the total committed amount to well over $100,000.
Sales orders obtained by the outlet confirm that RSL Group’s contracted work for the Belize Defence Force consisted solely of supplying a variety of food seasonings – a basic, low-value good that critics say should have been sourced through standard, transparent competitive processes.
When reached for comment on the allegations, Leslie did not deny his formal connection to RSL Group. He pushed back against claims of wrongdoing, however, emphasizing that he plays no role in the company’s daily business operations. The Cabinet Secretary also rejected all assertions that he leveraged his senior government position to sway the MOD’s contract awarding process in the firm’s favor.
Per Leslie’s account, RSL Group initially participated in the open public procurement process for the seasoning supply contract but was not selected. He claims the MOD later reached out to the company directly to request the goods, after the originally awarded contractor was unable to fulfill the order. Leslie added that RSL Group is a fully legitimate family-owned business, and that he has had personal ties to the owning family for multiple decades.