MP Silvio Matser, Eddie Fleming, Rogelio Koieman arrested --- Investigators did not get authorization from the courts to search MP Matster home and to arrest him --- Court grants Prosecution warrant to search MP Matser house and confirms arrest.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The budget debate that was scheduled to continue in parliament of St. Maarten had to be posponed on Wednesday morning because the current coalition got a 'monkey wrinch" thrown at them when the National Detectives and other law enforcement agencies conducted several house searches on Wednesday morning and arrested MP Silvio Matser. The detectives wanted to search the home of MP Silvio Matser, but MP Matser refused to allow the detectives to search his home because they did not get authorization from the courts to do so. However, the detectives arrested the Member of Parliament and afterwards they pursued the courts for authorization to search Matser's home. The home of Eddie Fleming which is ocated in Dutch Quarter was searched and the home of Rogelio Koieman located in Simpson Bay and they too were arrested. MP Silvio Matser was arrested on the suspicion of election fraud Fleming and Koieman are are suspected accomplices.
The Court of First of Instance confirmed the arrest of Member of Parliament Silvio Matser just after 3pm on Wednesday and also granted the prosecution the authorization to search the home of the Member of Parliament and his office. Press Officer for the Attorney General confirmed to SMN News shortly after 4pm on Wednesday that the Prosecution and detectives were on thier way to execute the searches while the detectives will begin interrogating MP Matser. Serphos said that Matser will be confronted with the information the prosecution has and he could be in custody for the next 48 hours or more. He stressed that the Octopus investigation will be treated like every other case and not differently. Serphos also indicated that the prosecution lost time on Wednesday because of the court proceedings that had to take place on Wednesday in order for them to proceed with the investigation. He again stressed that other arrests and searches should not be excluded.
The spokeman for the office of the Attorney General Norman Serphos confirmed the house searches which he said is related to the Octopus investigation. Serphos said the Octopus investigation started in October 2014 when a complaint was filed that indicated that persons on St. Maarten were paid to vote for MP Matser. He said in October 2014 the Attorney General started a fact finding investigation which was elevated to a criminal investigation in May 2015, which led to the arrests of the three suspects Serphos identified the suspects as S.M, E.F and R.K. Later Serphos said the detectives went to Matser's home to conduct the search without obtaining authorization from the court. He also said they also went to MP Matser home to arrest him. Serphos made clear that there might be more arrests and house searches later today. SMN News will bring you more information on the ongoing house searches and arrests. Due to the arrest of of MP Matser, the budget debate had to be postponed for four days due to a lack of quorom. Right now the Marlin coalition is in limbo since one of the members of the coalition is behind bars and is accused of election fraud. The Minister of Justice of St. Maarten Edison Kirindongo was only informed of the house searches and arrests early Wednesday morning, something Chief Prosecutor Ton Maan would have to fully explain to the Minister of Justice.
Already there are indications that the move on Wednesday by the Attorney General seems to be more political and that the Attorney General seems to be working for a particular set of politicians in the Netherlands instead of the country. If the country do not have an approved budget by a certain time frame then this open the door for the Netherlands to march in and take over the country.
Questions are also now being raised as to why the national detectives and the Attorney General waited until the last day of the 2016 budget debate to throw a 'monkey wrinch' in the process. Several persons contacted SMN News and stated that the Masbango investigation took almost four years before it was taken to court and was thrown out by a judge who stated in his verdict that there seems to be class justice on St. Maarten because the politician that benefitted from the vote buying in that case was never charged or even arrested. Instead the late civil servant along with the three police officers and Roy Heyliger the person that was manning the UPP election office had to appear in court.
In the case of Matser (Octopus Investigation), it took the national detectives nine months to make the arrests, and while being in a hurry to trap the country they failed to follow proper legal procedures and obtain authorization from the courts to search the home of an MP.
Criminal investigation surrounding vote buying during Parliamentary Elections 2014
House search and arrests in case "Octopus"
PHILIPSBURG:--- As a result of information obtained by the Public Prosecutor's Office that Member of Parliament S.M. would have bribed people to vote for him, a fact finding investigation by order of the Attorney-General was launched in October 2014 by the National Detectives.
The results of this investigation warranted a criminal investigation in the month of May 2015. This investigation carries the code name "Octopus". In this case 3 arrests were made Wednesday morning. They are S.M., E.F. and R.K. They are suspected of election fraud and acting as an accomplice. During one of the house search at the home of E.F. drugs were found. In this case the female D.F. was arrested. At the home of R.K. one luxury car and jewelry was confiscated. This in a separate investigation.
In the case of S.M. house searches are still being planned for today. Both at his home and office. Both location are frozen pending a warrant for the prosecution of S.M. by the Court. The Court must give on Sint Maarten approval when the suspect is a politician.
This investigation is led by the Public Prosecutor's Office St. Maarten. The investigation is ongoing. More arrests are not excluded. The police force of Sint Maarten (KPSM) and the RST agencies rendered assistance during the searches and arrest.
No further comment will be given until further notice.
Strafrechtelijk onderzoek naar verkiezingsfraude Statenverkiezing 2014
Huiszoekingen en aanhoudingen in zaak "Octopus"
PHILIPSBURG - Naar aanleiding van informatie verkregen door het Openbaar Ministerie dat Statenlid S.M. rond de Statenverkiezing van augustus 2014 mensen zou hebben omgekocht om op hem te stemmen, is op last van de Procureur-generaal (PG) in oktober 2014 een feitenonderzoek gestart door de Landsrecherche. De resultaten van dit feitenonderzoek gaven aanleiding om in mei 2015 een Strafrechtelijk onderzoek te gelasten. In het kader van dit onderzoek onder de codenaam "Octopus" zijn 3 personen aangehouden, te weten de man S.M., de man E.F. en de man R.K. Tijdens het onderzoek zijn in de woning van E.F. softdrugs aangetroffen en in verband hiermee is de vrouw D.F. aangehouden. Bij R.K. zijn sieraden en een luxe auto in beslag genomen
in ene separaat onderzoek.
In verband met de zaak tegen S.M. moeten nog twee huiszoekingen worden verricht. Namelijk in de woning en diens kantoor in het Parlement. Beide locaties zijn “bevroren” in afwachting van een bevel tot vervolging van het S.M. te geven door het Hof. Het Hof moet namelijk op Sint Maarten een bevel vervolging geven als de verdachte een politicus is.
Dit onderzoek wordt geleid door het Openbaar Ministerie (OM) Sint Maarten. Meer aanhoudingen worden niet uitgesloten. Binnen het kader van de samenwerking kreeg de Landsrecherche vanmorgen ondersteuning van het Korps Politie Sint Maarten (KPSM) en de Recherchesamenwerkingsteam (RST) bij de doorzoekingen en aanhoudingen.
Tot nader orde wordt geen nadere mededelingen gedaan.
Press Release from Office of the Attorney General
