PHILIPSBURG–Residents continue to leave their car wreckage and metal scraps near the metal yard of the Bakker Recycling plant near the dump in Philipsburg. The business stopped operating in March when Dutch authorities arrested owner André Bakker (49) in connection with a large international money-laundering investigation.
Bakker remains in custody in St. Maarten while three other suspects arrested in the Netherlands also remain locked up. A fifth suspect, a 36-year-old woman hailing from the same town, Nieuw-Schoonebeek, as Bakker was arrested in Germany. The Dutch Prosecutor’s Office has also requested the transfer of the suspect to the Netherlands.
The owner is proprietor of companies in Suriname and St. Maarten.
Scores of police officers, defence personnel and inspectors of the fiscal intelligence unit FIOD carried out searches in 30 buildings in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and St. Maarten in March. Authorities confiscated some eight million euros in real estate, luxury cars, jewellery and cash. Several houses in the Netherlands were confiscated, as well as a large discotheque in Germany and an apartment in St. Maarten.
The Daily Herald contacted Minister of Public Housing, Physical Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Christophe Emmanuel on Tuesday about the mountain of scrap and he said he is aware of the situation and intends to deal with it. He did not go into details about his plans for the yard.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/67019-residents-continue-to-dump-scrap-on-abandoned-yard
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