Philipsburg:--- The Appeals Court convicted former commissioner of labor and current National Alliance Member of Parliament Louie Laviest on Wednesday for bribery. Laveist was convicted to six months suspended sentence and banned from public office for a period of three years while he has to pay a fine of Naf. 5,000 or spend 55 days behind bars. Laveist is also under three years probation.
The Appeals Court found it proven during its second hearing that the former labour and social affairs commissioner accepted a bribe in 2003 from Bemal Enterprises and they also found it legally proven that Laveist accepted $6,000 in exchange for work permits in 2007.
In the conviction, the court took into consideration that Laveist was never convicted of any crimes in the past. However, they felt that he placed public office in jeopardy by accepting bribes. Laveist was fully acquitted of forging minutes of the Culture Club Foundation which the prosecution claimed he used to defraud AMFO of Naf. 22,750 to finance the Flag Day Celebration in 2004. Laveist was also acquitted of employing an illegal foreigner in his barber shop.
Basically, the Appeals Court rendered the same verdict they rendered in 2010. The embattled former commissioner and now Member of Parliament started his legal battle after he was arrested in 2008. The Court of First Instance convicted Laviest on all counts in 2009. The Supreme Court sent back the case to the Appeals Court after they found that the Appeals Court committed a technical error by attaching their reasons for conviction rather than incorporating it in the decision.
