Opinion Curacao Chronicle
Lately I have been following a peculiar case taking place here in Curaçao. And I was in full expectation of the court verdict.
I am a person that is a supporter of the rule of law. For me what the Court says is the law and must be complied with. But…!!! What if there is a conflict between what a judge says and what, for example, banking regulations say. Can a judge go against bank ethics and regulations? Regulations that have been put in place to protect us against money laundering, corruption and even the financing of dangerous organizations.
Like I said I was very interested in a court case taking place here in Curaçao. One of the main characters is an international company that has been red flagged for dubious practices in its native country. The company even admitted to these practices. For this reason, if the company wants to, for example, transfer funds from accounts it has in an international bank (the other actor in this play) it must adhere to the banking compliance. This is normal. There are international rules, also accepted by Curaçao and the Dutch Kingdom, which the company must comply with.
In my experience following cases in court, I had the feeling that this company with dubious practices would not win the case. I mean, there are several articles found on the World Wide Web from credible sources reporting on the criminal activities of this company.
To my astonishment, the company won. The court ruled that the bank must go against all accepted regulations to transfer these funds so the company can use them for who knows what.
Several questions come to mind. Did do judge do some kind of investigation? Does the judge know about these banking regulations?
I don’t want to mention foul play, but it does smell like it. I mean, the company is known for buying people to get contracts. But I won’t say it was the case with this judge because I don’t want to find myself before this court trying to defend myself.
The court should be blind, I know. But blind to corruption, money laundering or other criminal activities?
The media should question this. This is a serious threat to our trias politica. If that international company uses those funds for criminal activities it will be on the head of that judge.
Bron: CuracaoChronicle