High Court confirms conviction of Schotte | THE DAILY HERALD

THE HAGUE–The convictions of the former Curaçao Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte and his life partner for corruption and money laundering remain in place, according to Tuesday’s ruling by the High Court in the Netherlands. The imposed sentences are also definitive.

  In the criminal case against the MFK-leader and current Member of Parliament (MP) political bribery is central. Among other things, he had accepted donations, consisting of high sums of money from Italian St. Maarten casino boss meant to persuade him to grant special favours in return.

  To hide the origin of these amounts he made fake invoices. The two defendants also committed money laundering and had so-called “frequency jammers” designed to cause disruptions in telecommunications, supposedly to prevent authorities from tapping phones.

  Schotte was sentenced to a prison term of three years. As an additional punishment, he was deprived of the right to be elected to public office for a period of five years. His partner Cicely van der Dijs received a prison sentence of fifteen months, six of which suspended, for money laundering.

  Both filed appeals first to the Joint Court in Willemstad and then to the supreme court of the Dutch Kingdom. The latter examines, among other things, complaints against the evidence used.

  Schotte maintained there had not been any donations to bribe him, but only campaign contributions for MFK. The Court ruled that the monetary amounts also had value for the suspect if they were used in full or in part for financing the party.

  The lower courts’ conclusion that these donations were made to get Schotte’s preferential treatment in his political positions was not found to be incorrect and is sufficiently motivated. The other arguments brought forward by Schotte and his partner do not lead to the annulment of the earlier verdicts either.

  Both sentences have now become irrevocable, which means Schotte must give up his parliamentary seat and the couple will soon have to serve their time in jail.

Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/83078-high-court-confirms-conviction-of-schotte

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