Wilsoe: Bientu-investigation contravenes Repentance Regulation

May 23, 2012 2:08 PM

WILLEMSTAD - The investigation by the Public Prosecutor into lottery boss Robbie dos Santos, the Bientu-case, contravenes the repentance regulation (Inkeerregeling) adopted by the Parliament last year. Minister of Justice, Elmer ‘Kadè’ Wilsoe (PS) wrote this in a letter to the Parliament yesterday.

This letter is a commentary on a previous letter from the minister to the Parliament.The first letter had caused a commotion. Among other things, the minister was accused of having intervened with the prosecution of Dos Santos in order to help out a political friend. Wilsoe stated that he hadn’t been clear enough and therefore wrote a second letter to the Parliament.

In the last letter Wilsoe brushed aside all accusations directed at him. He stated his action was prompted because the investigation in the Bientu-case contravenes the repentance regulation that the Parliament had adopted in September 2011. With this regulation citizens were given the chance to report undeclared income and profits. “With the publication of this law, this repentance regulation became part of the tax and criminal law of Curaçao. The publication means that citizens have the right and can count on the Curaçao government, including the Tax Department and the Public Prosecutor, to accept and respect this regulation.”
 
According to Wilsoe, he had no other choice in this matter than to give the attorney general a general instruction to at all times observe prevailing laws and policy on Curaçao – certainly considering the fact that the investigation contravenes the repentance regulation and because the attorney general had misinformed him regarding this case. “This means that he (Attorney General Dick Piar, (editorial office)) must leave the beginning of a criminal investigation with a fiscal character up to the competent authorities, namely the Tax Department. Under my command, as Minister of Justice, I won’t allow the Public Prosecutor to contravene the law.”

In the first letter dated May 10th the minister mentioned instructing Attorney General Piar to stop the investigation into lottery boss Dos Santos. The reason being, according to Wilsoe, that Piar had misinformed him that the investigation into Dos Santos (who is suspected of tax evasion, money laundering and illegal lotteries) has started at the request or in consultation with the director of the Tax Department. The latter meanwhile indicated this was not the case. This led Wilsoe to abandon his confidence in the attorney general and write a letter to the American authorities requesting to lift the lean on Dos Santos’ bank accounts.