Prosecution aims to reclaim millions from Schotte

WILLEMSTAD – The public prosecutor’s office  aims to seize more than 2 million guilders from Curacao’s former Prime Minister and leader of the MFK-party Gerrit Schotte and his partner Cicely van der Dijs. On February 15, the case is in court for a pro forma hearing where the defense will have the opportunity to request additional investigation.

The public prosecutor wants to reclaim 1,861,692 guilders (a bit more than $1 million) from Schotte and 205,274 guilders (close to $115,000) from Cicely Van der Dijs. The claim against Schotte includes a payment of more than $800,000 Schotte received on the Swiss bank account of a company based on the Marshall Islands. Schotte was the beneficiary owner of that company, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The claims against Schotte and Van der Dijs follow their convictions in the Babel-investigation. On July 21, 2017, the Common Court of Justice sentenced Schotte on appeal to 3 years of imprisonment for, among other things, accepting more than $200,000 in bribes. Van der Dijs was sentenced to 15 months, with 6 months suspended. The court also took away Schotte’s right to be elected to Parliament for a period of five years.