PHILIPSBURG--The Joint Court of Justice on Thursday upheld the convictions of STC Administrative and Management Service NV, Foundation Escrow STC, and their directors Corinne de Tullio-Stamm and Jodi Lynn Garner, who were found guilty by the Court of First Instance in April 2019 of violation of the Ordinance on Unusual Transactions.
The two directors maintained their innocence during the appeal hearing which took place in November 2020. However, the Appeals Court followed the Court of First Instance in finding it proven that the two STC directors had failed to report a number of unusual financial transactions to the Unusual Transactions Reporting Centre MOT in Curaçao in July and August 2011 and August 2017.
For these crimes, the Court of First Instance sentenced both STC directors to conditional fines of NAf. 10,000 and 80 hours of community service, on two years’ probation. STC Administrative and Escrow STC were sentenced to conditional fines of NAf. 10,000 and NAf. 3,500, respectively.
Instead of imposing a fine, the Appeals Court sentenced De Tullio-Stamm to three months suspended, on three years’ probation, with 90 hours of community sentence.
As the Appeals Court found one charge in her case not proven, Garner’s conditional fine was lowered to NAf. 5,000, on three years’ probation.
In connection with a conviction in May 2016 on similar charges, De Tullio-Stamm and Garner were each also ordered to pay NAf. 10,000 fines for reoffending during their probation period. The financial penalties for both STC companies were confirmed.
Among the unusual transactions mentioned in this case were those made in July and August 2011 on behalf of main suspect in the “Larimar” case, Dutch consultant Ronald Maasdam, who was found guilty of bribery and money-laundering.
Among the proven crimes were two payments of US $300,000 in total from Caribbean Advice and Consultancy (CAC) Ltd. in the Isle of Man to Caribbean Real Estate/Re/Max in Anguilla for the purchase of the so-called “Mullen property” in Red Pond Estate on behalf of St. Maarten politician Theodore Heyliger.
