Belair Community Centre
BELAIR--The Joint Court of Justice informed on Friday that the court proceedings in the so-called “Larimar” case will take place at the Belair Community Centre on Welgelegen Road in Cay Hill from Monday through Friday, March 9-13.
The Joint Court said it has chosen this location instead of the Courthouse in Philipsburg for safety reasons and due to the number of suspects on trial, as well as the expected number of media representatives and members of the general public interested in following the court proceedings in this case.
The Larimar investigation involves corruption, money-laundering and payment of bribes to a public official and civil servants in St. Maarten by construction companies to be awarded big projects.
Suspects in this case are Dutch consultant R.M., former Member of Parliament (MP) Theodore Heyliger and his stepfather G.H.W.P., as well as R.J.E. and former Windward Roads Director J.B.
R.M. is the crown witness in this case as well as one of the main suspects. He is charged with the alleged bribery of then-Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Heyliger in 2011.
Heyliger is accused of receiving approximately US $4 million in total over a period of 15 years while holding public office as a minister, an island council member or an MP.
He is suspected of having used his influence to facilitate the awarding of one or more public-works contracts to Windward Roads, dredging company Devcon TCI Ltd., Volker Construction International BV, and Volker Stevin Caribbean NV in return. The Volker payments were allegedly in connection with the building of the causeway bridge.
Former director of Windward Roads B.V. and co-suspect B. also faces an extensive list of charges, including the payment of in total some $1.8 million, and repairs done to Heyliger’s private home to the tune of NAf. 135,292 to be awarded one or more public construction projects.
- is also accused of falsifying numerous invoices between 2013 and 2015 to pay a number of companies a total of $627,726 for fictitious work never carried out on behalf of Windward Roads.
Suspects E. and P. are charged with fraud in connecting with the sale of a piece of land, the so-called “Mullen property.”
The March 9-13 court sessions are slated to start at 9:00am. The public is advised to arrive by 8:45am at the latest. Persons attending the hearings may be required to register at the door and to show valid identification.
It will not be allowed to make phone calls, audio- or video-recordings in the courtroom, the Joint Court said. Visitors are advised that access to the courtroom will be restricted if the public seating area is full.
