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Escape from America Magazine received notice from several of our readers that The Wall Street Journal had published an article about a US expat who had had a run-in with the IRS and had relocated. In subsequent telephone conversations with Gilberto Jay Picon (aka Joseph Ross) and his wife Pamella, Escape from America Magazine was able to gain exclusive insight as to why the couple left the US to eventually relocate to the beautiful nation of Belize. Today, Ross and Pamella are the owner-hosts of the $1.4 million Mopan River Resort, and Pamella publishes the Belize Report, a web based newsletter providing the world with information about lodging, restaurants, sights, adventure, and travel tips; plus immigration, investment, and retirement information. Ross and Pamela are citizens of Belize, and they have second passports. Additional Resources Second Passports  The Offshore Advantage  The Belize Report  Mopan River Resort

For many years, now, the nation of Belize on the Caribbean Coast of Central America has offered what's known as an economic citizenship and a second passport. For many, it's meant a more comfortable lifestyle at a much more reasonable cost. For others, it's also meant opportunities for business and investment. Gilberto "Jay" Picon (aka Joseph Ross) resides in Belize among hundreds of other expats who have settled there over the years.  But Ross is unique. In 1986, he was served a U.S. indictment on tax evasion charges alleging he failed to disclose and pay taxes on $500,000 held in a Mexican bank account. He faces up to 20 years in prison and $2 million in fines.  Gazing across the slow-moving water of the Mopan River toward his Mopan Resort -- a 10 acre, $1.4 million luxury getaway -- he'll tell you the last sixteen years have been the happiest of his life.

The $500,000 allegedly owed to Uncle Sam wasn't acquired through high stakes investment or anything that could be construed as criminal activity. Ross started out as an airplane mechanic in the 1940s and saved like any other red-blooded American. After a time he established an aviation company through small business loans. Later he secured a US government contract to instruct thousands of pilots, transport radioactive material for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and consult on aviation matters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His company trained upwards of 110,000 pilots for the Vietnam War.

Through hard work and wise spending, Ross was getting to be a wealthy man by the mid 60s. That's when he branched out into cotton and cattle raising in Mexico, only to suffer huge losses because of hurricane damage. The IRS wouldn't recognize the losses, back then, before NAFTA and globalization. None-the-less, that's when his trouble with stateside taxes began.

But Ross has always been a man with a vision and a sense for achievement. Rather than lose everything to the IRS, he went took to the road, living in Acapulco and the French Alps for a time. He also toured Asia, the Greek Isles, and sailed the Pacific.

After getting their Belizean citizenship in 1988, Ross and his wife Pamella settled into a Vancouver condo purchased for $705,000. Belize is a British Commonwealth country just like Canada. When Pamella became Belize's consul general in Vancouver, the two joined the diplomatic set.

In 1996, the good times almost came to an end. Through pressure from the IRS, the Canadian Mounties arrested Ross on his U.S. warrant. Released on $50,000 bail that same day, he left again for friendlier climates. Pamella was also chastised and lost her diplomatic title. She joined him in Belize soon thereafter, and that's where they've been ever since, save for periodic business trips overseas.

While U.S. officials know where Mr. Ross is, it's difficult for them to get access to him. Only a few countries have extradition treaties with the U.S. that extend to so-called fiscal crimes, and those are rarely invoked. Several years ago, U.S. courts had become so discouraged with IRS efforts to locate fugitives that they began dismissing indictments.

Ross and his wife acquired Belizean citizenship under an economic citizenship program sponsored by the Belizean Government. Belize, along with many governments, make citizenship available and easy to acquire by virtually anyone who wants to become a citizen. The number of passports and economic citizenships granted by the Belizean Government adds $3 million dollars, annually, to the nation's federal budget.

The objective of these countries in granting citizenship is to increase revenue for investments in such things as transportation and communications infrastructures.  Another objective is to attract professionals to their foreign shores, professionals who often create jobs for locals and help sustain economic development.  Given that Joseph Ross took advantage of a good thing, he and his wife have helped add hundreds to the number of tourists choosing Belize as a destination.  They employ locals year around, they purchase Belizean goods and services, they are an asset to the nation of Belize.

Not everyone who seeks economic citizenship in another country is fleeing indictments. In fact, Ross is rather unique in that sense. Of the many who choose to reside on foreign shores are retired couples, and others on a fixed income from their own countries, along with entrepreneurs and investment strategists. All enjoy many basic advantages which include lower real estate prices, lower labor costs, lower living expenses, and oftentimes lower taxes on earned income.

Pamella publishes the Belize Report, a web based newsletter providing the world with information about lodging, restaurants, sights, adventure, and travel tips; plus immigration, investment, and retirement information for the wonderful nation of Belize.
 

In late 1999, the couple built their Mopan River Resort. Ross and his wife Pamella provide honeymooners and naturalists from the US and Europe with the best accommodations for fun, relaxation, and seclusion. They are owner-hosts of the $1.4 million resort. The local competition in luxury accommodations includes the Blancaneaux Lodge owned by director Francis Ford Coppola, who serves as Belize's consul general in California.

Honeymooners discovered the resort through ads in Bride & Groom magazine. Reachable only by private ferry, luxury thatched-roof cabanas equipped with cable TV and all "modcons" go for about $900 per person for seven nights. The price includes tours of nearby Mayan ruins, all meals, drinks, and transfers. Thai night is touted as a special treat; Pamella had taken cooking classes while the two vacationed in Bangkok.

The couple hosts cocktails at their 5,000-square-foot house, and they regale guests with tales of their US tax troubles. He says that he's got a great life down here.