PHILIPSBURG:--- Since the publication of articles on the Fokkens report that mentioned OM Saskia Devries lacked ethical leadership and has committed integrity breaches SMN News was provided with several documents that showed that Devries committed several integrity breaches on St. Maarten as she handled some of the TBO cases, one being the Emerald investigation.
Based on the international request submitted to the French authorities it showed that Devries mislead authorities on the French side when she stated that one of the suspects was accused of drug-related charges in the Emerald Investigation. An investigation that dealt with tax evasion and money laundering.
The International request prepared by Devries stated the suspect was involved in drug trafficking and as such the Dutch authorities wanted the French to turn over a boat that was anchored on the French territory.
The international request submitted to the Vice Prosecutor Yves Paillard on November 21st, 2016, states that the suspect violated the national ordinance on Opium as well as money laundering. The French authorities were asked to arrange surveillance of the suspect on St. Martin and to also conduct the search of the boat that was anchored at Anse Marcel, besides that Devries asked the French authorities to seize and transfer the boat to the TBO and RST team. In that international request in clearly states that a judge would give the instructions for the boat named “The Don 1” be seized and transferred to the Dutch investigators.
A case was also heard in the Court of Appeals in Basse Terre on in December 2016 where the court honored the request of the Dutch authorities regarding the suspect and the “The Don 1”. The vessel was transported to the BVI where it was sold through auction in the Netherlands through a Dutch website and not taken to the Dutch side.
Judge’s Involvement.
While it was highly publicized that a particular judge was and the OM was concocting with the TBO team in some investigations as the trio were seen eating at the Greenhouse restaurant in January 2018, documentation now show that the same judge Johannes Schols had given an order to sell the boat that was on the French side, while he had no jurisdiction to decide on a boat in French territorial waters.
Surprisingly, since the publication of the Fokkens report Judge Schols recently departed St. Maarten and have informed attorneys working on the Dutch side that his term has been up. Emails sent out by Judge Schols on April 23rd, 2019 stated that his term was up and he was returning to the Netherlands.
It is further alleged that this particular judge had taken some controversial and unethical decisions while handling TBO cases. One is the ordering of the sale of the “The Don 1” after it was confiscated, this vessel was taken to the British Virgin Islands and was auctioned off in the Netherlands.
Recently, in another case code-named El Jefe, a vessel that is owned by an American, judge Schols ordered the sale of the boat although it was proven that the boat is not owned by the suspect in the Emerald case. That boat was transferred to Curacao and placed for auction on BVA auction. Based on the information received the boat has a market value of USD 1.3 million and although prosecutor informed the court that the value is between $300,000.00 and 450,000.00 Euros, it was understood that the boat was auctioned for USD120,000.00 Seemingly only persons residing in the Netherlands could have registered and bid for that boat.
The Fokkens report will be discussed in the second chamber sometime next week, hopefully, more information on the full content of the report will be made public and the allegations in the Emerald case will be made public. Due to the secrecy when handling International Requests the documents and court verdict rendered by the Appeals Court in Basseterre will not be made public.
