On 19 September 2013, Penner was stripped of his ministerial portfolios by Prime Minister
Dean Barrow due to his involvement in allegedly selling and issuing a fraudulent
Belizean passport to South Korean national Kim Won Hong, who at the time was jailed in
Taiwan. Penner was charged with illegally facilitating a passport in March 2014, but charges were dropped in July due to lack of evidence. After the scandal Penner was shunned in the Belize House and reportedly did not carry out any official government duties. He resisted calls to resign from both the Belize House and the UDP by Barrow and others. In June 2014 Penner was
deselected as the UDP's candidate in Cayo North East in the
2015 general election in favour of former
San Ignacio Mayor John August. At that election August was defeated by the
People's United Party candidate,
Orlando Habet. ==Personal==