Ernesto Cruz
An Orange Walk couple who owns a bakery in Ladyville were today in the Belize Magistrate’s Court where they were read a single charge of handling stolen goods. Fifty-four year old Ernesto Cruz and fifty-two year old Anna Christina Cruz were charged in relation to an I-pad belonging to attorney and politician Arthur Saldivar. That I-pad was allegedly missing for two weeks, and then was found inside the bakery on Tuesday. The couple was read the charge of theft, and pleaded not guilty. But Magistrate Herbert Panton noticed than another charge was on the sheet – that of handling stolen goods – and he informed the Police prosecutor that persons could not be charged for both offences – it had to be one or the other.
Anna Christina Cruz
With that, the charge of theft was withdrawn and the couple was charged for handling stolen goods. The pleaded not guilty and were offered bail in the sum of one thousand dollars each. The couple alleges that the I-pad was left in their bakery and they placed it in a lost and found box, which is where Saldivar and the Police found it on Tuesday. But Saldivar claims that when he used the tracking beacon on the I-pad, it showed that the device was actually in Orange Walk before it made its way back to Ladyville.