PHILIPSBURG–The Court of First Instance, on Wednesday, sentenced a 28-year-old officer of the Immigration and Border Protection Services to six months imprisonment and a five-year ban from public service for corruption and bribery.
“The suspect abused his authority as an immigration officer and preyed on the most vulnerable. Such behaviour has no place within the Police Force or within the Immigration Department,” the Prosecutor said in calling for 12 months, six of which were to be suspended, on two years’ probation.
The Court found it proven that Michaelangelo Bell had accepted a US $3,000 bribe from a man of Haitian descent to do something in violation of his duty.
Bell said it “was wrong and a mistake to accept money from the guy” on March 29. He said he saw two Haitian men standing in line outside Union Caribe money-transfer service at Cannegieter Street while he was on a general control.
He was on duty and wearing his uniform when he saw one of the men running away, while he approached the other man. He was operating alone, even though that is not common practice, he told the Judge.
The Haitian man who was apprehended, however, told a different story and reported the incident to the Prosecutor’s Office and filed a report about extortion and violence with the Police.
He said he had wanted to send money to his relatives in Haiti. At around 7:30am a police car stopped next to him. One officer stepped out of the car, which he said was “strange” as normally there would always be two officers in the car. The officer asked for identification. He showed him his Haitian passport, after which he was told to go and sit in the backseat of the police car.
While driving in the direction of the Police Station, the officer asked the man if he had a residence permit. He responded that he had requested one, after which he was arrested. “What can you do for me?” the officer told the man, stating that he would be released for payment of $3,000.
They drove to the bank where the Haitian man withdrew the requested amount from his savings account, after which he was dropped off in Madame Estate to take a bus. Bell, however, did not leave before giving him his telephone number and informing him that he could “certainly” help him with obtaining a residence payment for $1,000 extra, the Haitian man had told the Police.
The immigration officer claimed the Haitian had “spontaneously” offered him $3,000. “He said he would give me anything as he did not want to go back to Haiti. I took a chance there. I knew it was bad and wrong,” Bell told the judge, adding that he could not resist the offer as he has debts.
Bell is currently on suspension but still receives his salary, even though he is banned from entering the premises of the Immigration and Border Protection Services.
The Judge said the smooth way of operation suggests that Bell, or any of his colleagues, operated in the same way and on more occasions but Bell, who is a first offender, denied this.
The Prosecutor said the investigation did not reveal that taking bribes was part of suspect’s regular behaviour, but it could be clearly established that he had abused his authority against “a vulnerable person who came here because there is little perspective in his country of origin. That man was simply a prey.”
The Prosecutor found it proven that the immigration officer had abused his power and had received a gift to do something in violation of his duty. He said the officer had taken the initiative to bribe and not the “subordinate” Haitian.
The Prosecutor said Bell should be dismissed as there is no place for someone like him in the force. He said he did not close his eyes for the low salaries and the difficult circumstances under which police officers must perform their duties in St. Maarten, but Bell had severely abused his authority and had “quite neglected” his obligations.
Attorney Zylena Bary maintained that the Haitian man had taken the initiative to do the transaction. “My client made the wrong choice…but he is no criminal and this was no matter of a smooth operation,” she said.
Her client, who holds a good personal record, was highly indebted and could not resist temptation but should not be sent to prison for six months, she said.
The lawyer said there was “absolutely no evidence for abuse of authority as the initiative had come from the Haitian man.” Her client accepted the money but did not make the offer; therefore, she pleaded for a suspended sentence. “My client will be blacklisted with a conviction and he would be in jeopardy in Pointe Blanche prison,” Bary said.
The Court found the defendant guilty of corruption. He had abused his authority as a civil servant and had forced a person to give him money to do something in violation of his duty.
The Judge said this was a very serious crime. “You cannot pass on your own financial distress to vulnerable people. You absolutely cannot do such things,” he said.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/79604-immigration-officer-tried-for-corruption
View comments
Hide comments