Liens on Robbie’s bank accounts lifted

April 06, 2012 1:11 PM

WILLEMSTAD - The Appeals Court has lifted the liens on three bank accounts under the name of suspect lottery boss Robbie dos Santos, who was taken into custody on Tuesday.

The US $30 million liens placed on American bank accounts of three suspected legal entities in the Bientu case will remain in place, Prosecutor Guillano Schoop said Wednesday morning.

The liens on Dos Santos' three bank accounts were placed upon the order of the Prosecutor's Office in July 2011. They were approved by a Judge of Instruction. The liens on the legal entities' accounts followed later.

Schoop did not mention their names Wednesday, but during a press-release issued last year, the Prosecutor's Office stated that apart from Dos Santos and a co-suspect, a number of connected legal entities were also suspected of money laundering, tax evasion and forgery. It concerned, for instance, offshore company Caribbean Investment Group Ltd. in Anguilla and Jamaroma Lotteries N.V.

Attorneys at law Wouter Tielkemeijer and Eldon "Peppie" Sulvaran had filed a complaint against the lien. The handling of the complaint took some time, but in the end the court decided in their client's favour. The lien on the legal entities remained in place.

The Prosecutor's Office called in Robbie dos Santos for questioning on Tuesday morning. Upon his lawyers' request, the hearing was postponed until Wednesday morning.

After he had reported with the authorities, the lottery manager was arrested. Six hours later he was taken into custody.

Dos Santos was also questioned in October 2011, after which he was sent home. The main offices of Robbie's Lottery in Curaçao and St. Maarten and Dos Santos' house in Brakkeput Abou were searched in July 2011. He had gone on vacation that day and did not return for three months. Dos Santos returned to Curaçao from the Dominican Republic in October 2011. He was questioned almost immediately thereafter.