THE HAGUE–Members of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) and André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party on Thursday sought clarity on the possible involvement of the accountancy firm KPMG in the gambling industry in Curaçao and St. Maarten.

In the series of written questions submitted to Minister of Security and Justice Ard van der Steur and Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk, Van Raak and Bosman referred to various media reports regarding sports betting, the (illegal) gambling industry, St. Maarten casino owner Francesco Corallo, the Dutch Caribbean telecom provider UTS and the role of KPMG.

One of these media reports is an article that appeared in the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant of September 5, 2015, headlined, “You are watching too much of the Godfather,” in which Corallo confirmed that he gave money to local politicians, as many other local businessmen did, but that he kept to the rules and that KPMG checked his financial administration.

Van Raak and Bosman asked the two Ministers whether they were aware that KPMG checked Corallo’s books. The Members of Parliament (MPs) wanted to know whether the Ministers agreed that this made KPMG’s position “vulnerable.”

The MPs referred to Transparency International (TI), which indicated in its 2015 St. Maarten National Integrity System Assessment report that there were close links between the St. Maarten gambling industry and the local political establishment. “Is there a risk of an adverse effect for the Kingdom because of the link between Corallo and KPMG?”

Van Raak and Bosman also touched on sports betting in Curaçao, a phenomenon that has existed on the island for more than 15 years which focuses on international markets without adequate local legislation in place and without control by Curaçao’s Gaming Control Board.

The MPs asked Ministers Van der Steur and Plasterk whether they agreed that an “uncontrolled gambling industry” out of Curaçao with confirmed links to persons outside Curaçao, namely the United States (US), could jeopardise the integrity of the Kingdom. “Has there been contact with other countries, such as the US, regarding these border transgressing gambling activities?”

UTS and Robbie’s Lottery were also mentioned. Van Raak and Bosman mentioned a blog of the news site Knipselkrant Curaçao of April 2014 which linked KPMG, and the illegal gambling sector involving UTS and Robbie’s Lottery. In this case, the MPs also asked whether this presented a risk of having an adverse effect on the Kingdom.

Van Raak will touch on the issue in his next column titled “How deep is KPMG involved in the Antillean gambling industry?” which will be published today, Friday, on Dutch website ThePostOnline.

“The role of Dutch accountants on the islands has kept me occupied for a while. Such as the role of KPMG in the Curaçao telecom company UTS which plays an important role in the SMS lotteries and sports betting where possibly a lot of criminal money is laundered.

“KPMG has been UTS’s in-house accountant for years, but the company has also been an important advisor of UTS. The CEO of UTS comes from KPMG, which in the Netherlands has been involved in different cases of fraud. At the housing corporation Vestia, meat producer Weyl, construction company Ballast Nedam and the multinationals Imtech and SBM Offshore,” stated Van Raak.

According to Van Raak, the large-scale investigation into the links between the gambling industry and the political establishment in Curaçao and St. Maarten, being carried out on the request of the Second Chamber based on a motion of Van Raak and Bosman, should also address the controllers, and the accountants.

“I am happy to trust that everything Corallo does is according to the books, because KPMG has checked this. But then I first want to know more about the trustworthiness of KPMG,” Van Raak concluded his column.

André Bosman said in an invited comment that he wants answers about the possible involvement of KPMG in the gambling industry in Curaçao and St. Maarten. “Minister Plasterk keeps saying that these issues are local, internal affairs. We want to know whether there are links between KPMG, sports betting and the involvement of US persons, and the gambling industry in Curaçao and St. Maarten because this affects the Dutch Kingdom,” he said.

Bron: Daily Herald
Zie ook Dossier Veiligheidsdienst Curacao