PHILIPSBURG--Former Member of Parliament (MP) Rolando Brison has been indicted on bribery charges stemming from his tenure in the country’s highest legislative body from June 2018 to February 2024.
Brison (40), accompanied by his lawyers Jairo Bloem and Lysandra Peterson, attended a preliminary hearing of the Court of First Instance on Monday morning, where a prosecutor read out the indictment against him and three co-suspects in the so-called “Lissabon” investigation.
The former MP stands accused of taking large amounts in bribes from Johan Alexis Dijkhoffz (58), lottery boss Robbie dos Santos (68), and businessman S.L.G. (51), who has commercial interests in St. Maarten and St. Kitts and Nevis.
Prosecutors are also seeking the court to order Brison to pay US $92,190. This figure, according to the prosecution, is what the former MP received in illegally-obtained funds.
The accusations
Co-suspect Dijkhoffz is accused of giving Brison some $1,400 in cash, and allegedly paid for hotel rooms, meals, Google and Apple Playstore credit, a refrigerator, round-trip plane tickets to Miami and the Netherlands, and a bill of approximately $3,350 that Brison owed to a law firm.
In exchange, the former MP allegedly had to look after the business interests of Adonis Hotel in Cupecoy, and push the Tourist Health Levy Ordinance through parliament. The proposed Tourist Health Levy Ordinance would have forced each arriving tourist to pay an additional $30 tax, half of which was earmarked for national health insurer SZV.
The Council of Advice severely criticised the ordinance in a report in March 2022. The Council, which reviews all draft laws, recommended that Brison abandon the legislation altogether due to what it described as “operational and legislative imperfections”.
Dos Santos allegedly bribed Brison by transferring a total of $10,327 to his prepaid debit card and arranging discounted stays in Curaҫao hotels.
G. is accused of having bribed Brison by transferring $12,500 to the same debit card, in addition to handing over between $50,000 and $60,000 in cash.
According to the indictment, Dos Santos and G. wanted Brison to ensure that St. Maarten’s parliament passed a new “banking law”, and that cryptocurrency would become legally accepted in the country.
Brison was a staunch proponent of cryptocurrency during his time as an MP, saying in March 2022 that he was exploring legislation for Bitcoin Cash to become legal tender in St. Maarten and exempt from capital gains tax.
For all co-suspects, Brison allegedly also passed on information, connected them to relevant civil servants and government officials, and put their interests on the political agenda.
Tapping
Besides a single shoe softly tapping against the courtroom floor, Brison sat still in the defendant’s chair during the hour-long procedural hearing.
Only his lawyers and Dijkhoffz’s lawyer Safira Ibrahim made requests for additional investigation, which were all granted by the judge. They wanted all the messages that investigators recovered from instant messaging services WhatsApp and Signal to be added to the case file, as well as for Brison and Dijkhoffz to testify again before an investigative judge.
Dos Santos was represented by Curaçao lawyer Olga Kostrzewski, while G. is being defended by local lawyer Shaira Bommel.
Outside the courtroom, Brison told this newspaper that he is “extremely confident” going forward with the court case, “as long as the evidence we present is taken seriously.”
Although reluctant to talk about his strategy in the yet-to-be-scheduled trial, the former MP said in broad terms that he intends to be transparent.
“I plan to be very open with them about my job and my dedication, and that everything I did was for the people of the country,” he said. “I think a lot of people would say many things about me, but one thing they know is that I worked very hard as a Member of Parliament.”
When asked about his thoughts about the charges, Brison said he prefers to be in court.
“I now have an opportunity to present what I already presented before to the prosecutors. If they felt like they don’t want to adhere to what I’m presenting – factual information that proves everything that they’re saying is wrong – then the justice system gives me the opportunity to now bring that to a judge,” he said. “This is my chance to vindicate my name.”
Brison was arrested as part of the Lissabon investigation on March 17, 2023, which coincided with authorities searching his home as well as his office in the Parliament building. He was released from custody the following day.
Unrelated case
Besides Lissabon, co-suspect Dijkhoffz is also a suspect in the ongoing and unrelated “Jasmine” investigation.
In this investigation, Dijkhoffz has been accused of having bribed former Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Christophe Emmanuel, who held office between December 2016 and January 2018.
According to the indictments in this case, Dijkhoffz allegedly acted as a middleman for companies with interests in open applications for construction permits.
