Integrity Report delivered to the Kingdom Council says it all
PHILIPSBURG:--- It has been about two weeks now since the Governor of St. Maarten delivered the Integrity Report that was compiled after the Kingdom Council mandated Governor Eugene Holiday to conduct an Integrity Investigation on St. Maarten. While that investigation has been completed and the report has been delivered to the Kingdom Council, everything on corruption on St. Maarten went silent because the report clearly spelled out the incompetence that exists at the Prosecutor's Office and an alleged corrupt Solicitor General. These prosecutors and Solicitor General were appointed by the Dutch and the culprits are their own people and it behooves everyone to see if the Kingdom Council will whip their own incompetent and corrupt people.
Besides the integrity report which is yet to be made public, SMN News will point out some of the in-competencies of the Prosecutor's Office that not only harbors corruption but also shows that what Judge Luijks said in the Masbango verdict has merit and one must give the judge credit for spelling out what he saw in that case.
In December 2009, the owner of Afoo Supermarket was murdered, the eyewitnesses that saw the culprits when they escaped trusted a veteran detective and directed him to the path the killers used to escape. That detective, even though he was not on the case followed the information he received and the RST who at the time was handling all big investigations refused to accept the information the local detective provided. Instead of using the eyewitnesses that were residing on the island illegally to find the killers, former Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos had those persons deported back to their native country. Perseverance from the detective led the investigators to retrieve the gun used to murder the owner of Afoo Supermarket located in Dutch Quarter. When that weapon was found right where the eyewitnesses said they saw the killers escape, then Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos and his RST detectives dismissed the weapon saying it was not the weapon used to kill the businessman because it was rusty. Ballistic testing done in the Netherlands proved Mos and his RST detectives wrong, but by the time the results came back the eyewitnesses were deported. Five years have passed and the families of the murdered businessman never got justice.
Then came the broad daylight murder of David Priest who was gunned down in the presence of a witness but yet the Priest's family never got justice. For those that don't know, David Priest prior to his death was going up against government and several brothels that had no license for prostitution but were allowed to have prostitutes at their clubs. These prostitutes were described as exotic dancers yet they serviced men in a closed room with a red light on the door the minute they enter with their client.
Another case that was thrown to the French authorities by former Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos because he claimed to have feared the intervention of politicians is the forgery and fraud of the last testament of the late Olivier Lange that is being used by people who claim they own the former Government of St. Maarten. Today the situation at Oyster Pond has created a diplomatic discussion since the persons executing what appeared to be a forged testament is trying their best with the help of certain politicians to claim French land. Some of the very politicians have people fronting for them to purchase the Marina in Oyster Pond, a location that has no immigration/PAF controls or customs. It is an ideal location for drugs and weapons transshipment.
Just last year, St. Maarten made headlines when two American Tourists were murdered in their Cupecoy condominium. While police managed to arrest the three killers the prosecutor's bungled the case and even withheld valuable information from the defense and the court.
Even though police did their jobs and allegedly included the information in the case files, the prosecution chose to hide this information from the defense simply because they did not want to dig deeper into the case. Yes, they had the killers but who knows if this brutal murders were a hit or not. Not giving full disclosure to defense lawyers is not something the courts will accept and hopefully the Dutch will sanction former Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos for prosecutorial misconduct.
- The prosecution made the court and people of St. Maarten believe that the killing was a random robbery that went bad, if that is so then why was the 5K diamond ring on Thelma King's finger still on her finger when the bodies were found on September 21st, why was her diamond necklace still on her neck and why did Michael King still have on his gold Rolex watch? This type of information was never given to the court and the defense had no clue that these items were found. More astonishing is that the prosecution failed to mention that there was second safe in the house which was located just about five feet behind Michael King, inside that safe there were monies and other valuables, yet Michael King sent the attackers to the safe upstairs where his wife was sleeping. How is it possible that the court and defense did not hear about the letters that Thelma King wrote to her husband Michael trying to convince him not to invest in a rum factory on St. Maarten? At least three of the letters were found on Thelma King's iPad that was in police possession, yet the defense lawyers and the court was not informed. Besides those facts who really found the Kings passports while police had the condo in which they were killed locked down for weeks?
- As if that was not enough the prosecution issued three summons to the main suspect Meyshane Kemar Johnson who is now serving a 30 years prison sentence. But the case is far from over because it's now before the Supreme Court since both the prosecution and defense appealed the case. Former Minister of Justice Roland Duncan dismissed the prosecutor who served two summons the same day, tricking the suspect in the last one. The question that is now before those that know what the prosecutors did is if this information gets to the ears of the lawyers representing the suspects in the Netherlands then the entire case will fall apart and the Kings might never get real justice. Is this really acceptable on St. Maarten by prosecutors who come here to work?
On Sunday the father of Lizcancia Maduro spoke out on how the prosecution and police is handling his daughter's murder investigation. It's been two weeks since this young lady was brutally murdered and her body was found in the trunk of her car. Crime on St. Maarten escalated since Eric Noordhoek took up his post on St. Maarten, but it is yet to be seen if the incoming Minister of Justice will clean up house especially at the Prosecutor's Office since they know what Judge Luijks said in the Masbango verdict and they also know why the case of Maria Buncamper Molanus is lingering for the past four years and who is the best friend of St. Maarten's Solicitor General Taco Stein. While the Justice Ministry especially the Solicitor General has been saying that St. Maarten lacks manpower and proper equipment, there are a number of confiscated items such as boats, cars, and properties that are sitting on the wayside. SMN News questioned former Minister of Justice Roland Duncan about these assets that could have been sold to put monies in the crime fund. Duncan said back then that Stein and the former Attorney General Dick Piar were supposed to sell these items years ago but they never did. Instead SMN News found several speed boats that were confiscated hidden at a boat yard in Sandy Ground.
