CURACAO MINISTER OF JUSTICE VERSUS PROCURATOR GENERAL
A Minister should not interfere in a criminal investigation
On 25 April 2012 the Curacao Minister of Justice (‘MofJ‘) Elmer ‘Kadè’ Wilsoe submitted an official request in a letter to the American Minister of Foreign Affairs Hillary Clinton to raise the attachment of the bank balances of lottery owner Dos Santos in the United States. Those attachments were made at the request of the Public Prosecutions Department (‘PPD‘) in Curacao in connection with a current criminal investigation (the ‘Bientu investigation‘).
However, a Minister should not interfere in a criminal investigation. Strict rules apply to this. And once a criminal case …
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BES LAW DEVELOPMENTS
Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (BES)
Within a couple of years, the BES Islands, as public entities, will be part of the country of the Netherlands in the framework of the political restructuring in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The US dollar will be introduced as the new currency in the BES Islands. Curacao and St. Maarten will each become a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and have their own legislation and regulations.
The starting point of the political restructuring is that Dutch legislation will be introduced only gradually into the BES Islands. It has been established that …
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DUTCH CARIBBEAN ANTI-MONEY-LAUNDERING REGULATIONS (II)
Filing MOT report no blanket protection
A provider of financial services, e.g. a bank, has the obligation under Section 11 of the MOT (National Ordinance Penalization Money Laundering) to report to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), without delay, any unusual transaction made or proposed. Unusual transactions are described in the Ministerial Decree Indicators Unusual Transactions.
Suspected money-laundering transactions are, e.g., transactions non-typical of a client or transactions where there is otherwise cause to presume that they may relate to money laundering or terrorist financing. Such transactions, including proposed transactions, should be reported. The MOT also allows for permissive filings by …
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DUTCH CARIBBEAN ANTI-MONEY-LAUNDERING REGULATIONS (I)
An overview
Important Netherlands Antilles anti-money-laundering regulations include the National Ordinance Penalization Money Laundering (‘Landsverordening Strafbaarstelling Witwassen van Geld’, ‘NOML’) which criminalizes money laundering, and the National Ordinance on the Reporting of Unusual Transactions (‘Landsverordening Melding Ongebruikelijke Transacties’, ‘MOT’). The latter requires anybody who offers financial services to report, without delay, any ‘unusual transactions’ to the Financial Intelligence Unit (‘Meldpunt Ongebruikelijke Transacties’).
Non-legislative regulations, such as the Provisions and Guidelines on the Detection and Deterrence of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing for Credit Institutions (‘Guidelines’), issued by the Central Bank of the Netherlands Antilles are also relevant. These state that …
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ARUBA LEGISLATION AGAINST MONEY-LAUNDERING
The government continues to improve the system
Since the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) evaluation in 1995, Aruba has passed new legislation and undertaken a number of other measures aimed at strengthening its anti-money laundering system. In February 1996, the Reporting Ordinance and the Identification Ordinance came into effect. Following the passage of these measures, the government has sought to address concerns relating to the casino and gambling industry, the use of legal entities, the import and export of cash and the Aruba Free Zone. Reports were prepared, which make recommendations for strengthening the anti-money laundering measures in these sectors, …
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