High Court quashes Loor's money-laundering conviction

February 23, 2010 6:26 AM

PHILIPSBURG--The High Court in The Hague has quashed former police commissioner Marcel Loor's conviction for money-laundering and has referred this case back to the Joint Court of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba for retrial.

That is the outcome of Loor's appeal in the supreme court of the Dutch Kingdom against his April 3, 2008, conviction on forgery, fraud, tax-evasion and money-laundering charges.

The Joint Court had sentenced him to 24 months, six of which were suspended, with three years' probation and payment of a NAf. 15,000 fine.

This is the second time Loor has managed to nibble away part of his sentence. The Court of First Instance had sentenced him in November 2007 to four years, a NAf. 600,000 fine, repayment of NAf. 191,000 to the Coast Guard and payment of NAf. 379,000 to the Tax Office.

Loor's legal representative in St. Maarten Attorney-at-Law Richard Gibson Jr.'s only comment was that he was "not unsatisfied" with the outcome of the so-called "cassation" case in which the High Court ruled on February 16.

"I would like to refrain from any further comment in the media until I have discussed the outcome of the appeal with my client Mr. Loor," he stated.

High-profile Dutch lawyer Gerard Spong, who represented Loor in the High Court, could not be reached immediately for comment.

The three judges of the High Court followed the conclusion of the Solicitor General that it could not be proven that Loor had laundered NAf. 447,275 in criminal money. He only considered it proven that Loor had illegally obtained approximately US $70,000 in rent allowance from the Coast Guard of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

The High Court also followed the Solicitor General's conclusion that it could not be proven that Loor and his partner Charlene Craig had been aware that all the monies deposited with an offshore company had been obtained through criminal activities.

The High Court upheld Loor's conviction for forging immigration re-entry forms between January 2002 and June 2007, allowing illegal immigrants entry to the island.

Loor had stated he had done such "for humanitarian reasons," but the High Court found that he should have used legal means to accomplish his goals.

It also rejected the appeal of Loor's conviction for defrauding the Coast Guard of rent allowances via his partner Charlene Craig, who worked with the Coast Guard for six years.

The High Court's ruling may have implications for the dispossession claim filed by the Prosecutor's Office to seize Loor's and Craig's assets. The Court of First Instance postponed a ruling on this matter in April 2009 until the outcome of Loor's and Craig's appeals in the High Court.

Craig's appeal in the High Court is still pending. She was sentenced by the Joint Court to 12 months suspended and 200 hours of community service for forgery and money-laundering on March 19, 2009.

The Prosecutor's Office is seeking the seizure of NAf. 1.3 million from the couple.

(Source: The Daily Herald St. Maarten)

22 February 2010