PHILIPSBURG - Former MP Theo Heyliger was found guilty of accepting bribes from Dutch consultant Ronald Maasdam and former director of construction company Windward Roads on Friday, May 15
Heyliger was also found guilty of laundering nearly $ 4 million at taxpayer expense. He was sentenced to 60 months in prison, but will not be jailed immediately, as requested by the prosecutor.
Maasdam was sentenced to 36 months, the judge said via a videoconference link to the Curaçao court. Boekaar was sentenced to 12 months for bribery, money laundering and forgery.
The prosecutor's office had demanded a prison sentence of six years and six months for Heyliger, who was one of the main suspects in the “Larimar” investigation into the large-scale corruption in Sint-Maarten.
The “Larimar” case is linked to the payment of bribes in connection with several large construction projects such as the “causeway” bridge over the lagoon, and the laundering of large sums of money.
“Bribes made the projects unnecessarily expensive. This money should have come back to the taxpayer, ”the court said in a press release.
Consultant Maasdam, who acted as an intermediary for this project, was granted 36 months. His sentence was lower than Heyliger's, as he had cooperated with the judicial authorities as a Crown witness and had helped to resolve these cases.
The court said that with their actions, the suspects shamed the confidence of the citizens of Sint Maarten. “This is particularly damaging for a young country like Sint-Maarten, where we need leaders who lead by example. Their actions also have a harmful and disruptive influence on society as a whole ”.
In a separate proceeding, the prosecutor's office will file a dispossession against Heyliger to seize his illegal profits.
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