PHILIPSBURG--The Joint Court of Justice has reduced the prison sentences of two former civil servants found guilty of defrauding the government out of approximately nine million guilders between 2010 and 2015.
Michael Dijkhoffz and Julian Charley Lake had appealed their 2022 convictions in the “Seabass” investigation, which looked into wrongdoing surrounding the bidding and tendering for information and communications technology (ICT) projects and the procurement of computer hardware and software for the St. Maarten government.
Dijkhoffz, main suspect and former head of government’s ICT Department, had a prison sentence of four years and nine months hanging over his head. However, the Joint Court reduced his sentence by nine months in its verdict on Tuesday.
Lake, a former policy advisor in the ICT Department, was facing a sentence of two years and nine months in prison. The Joint Court dropped that down to one year and nine months in Tuesday’s verdict.
The Joint Court took time off their sentences because not all the corruption and financial crime charges had been proven on appeal.
During the appeal trial in September, the solicitor-general asked the three-judge panel to send Dijkhoffz to prison for five years and nine months, while he wanted three years and nine months for Lake.
The solicitor-general told the court that the pair used their influence on public tender evaluation committees to award contracts to now-defunct local companies Effective Business Solutions, owned by Dijkhoffz’ sister, and Valmeer Management and Consultancy (VMC), owned by Lake’s then-wife.
The local companies would then transfer money received from these contracts to three American companies, all owned by Dijkhoffz’ close relatives, which were supposedly acting as suppliers.
The American companies would subsequently transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars to Dijkhoffz’ private bank account in the United States over the course of several years.
These funds were allegedly used for private purposes, such as the purchase and rent of vehicles, food and clothing, airplane tickets, fireworks, timeshare and vacation rentals, study expenses and driving lessons, and the construction of a swimming pool.
One of the American companies had transferred a total of roughly US $70,000 to Lake’s bank account between 2016 and 2018, it emerged in the appeal trial. There are also suspicions of cash being withdrawn from VMC’s bank accounts for his own use, the solicitor-general had said.
Dijkhoffz and Lake claimed innocence during their appeal trial, just as they had two years ago in the lower court, which ultimately found them guilty of fraud and money-laundering.
Tuesday’s verdict was originally slated for November 19, but the Joint Court had postponed its ruling for two weeks at the last minute.
After the Joint Court of Justice, convicted persons only have one more appeal, which is to the Dutch Supreme Court. However, this court does not re-evaluate evidence and only determines whether the other courts applied the law correctly.
