SXMElections.com

Lake Stays In Parliament, No Seat For Buncamper-Molanus

St. Maarten – Rumors about the makeup of the new cabinet and its possible consequences for seats in parliament spread rapidly yesterday after the fall of the Gumbs cabinet. One such rumor was that Maurice Lake, now independent, would return as the Minister of Vromi; that move would have opened a slot in parliament for Maria Buncamper-Molanus Read more

Prosecution Ready To Drop Second Case Against Buncampers

“We have not attempted  to cover this up”

St. Maarten – Prosecutor Dounia Benammar put on a hair shirt on behalf of the prosecutor’s office yesterday morning to atone for procedural violations that threaten to jeopardize part of the trial against former Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor Maria Buncamper-Molanus and her husband Claudius.

Benammar concluded that the prosecution has to be declared inadmissible in the second summons it brought against the couple Read more

Buncamper-Trial Moves To January: Attorneys Ask Court To Declare The Prosecution Inadmissible

St. Maarten  –The Buncamper-case reached a critical stage yesterday and it remains to be seen whether there will be a trial at all against the former Minister of Public Health Social Development and Labor at all. The decision is in the hands of Judge Peter Lemaire, who will rule next Wednesday on the most far-reaching request from the defense to declare the prosecution inadmissible in both cases it has brought against the ex-minister and her husband Claudius.

The prosecution has asked the court to declare it inadmissible in the second summons against both Buncampers, but to continue with the prosecution of Sint Maarten Building Supplies (SBS) director Ivan H Read more

Prosecutor Removed From From Buncamper-Case

Prosecutor Dounia Benammar (pictured here in Cupecoy on her way to the crime scene of the Michael and Thelma King murders in 2012) will replace Gonda van der Wulp (inset) as the lead prosecutor during the Buncamper-trial. Photo Today / Leo Brown After allegedly photographing statements from witnesses for the defense

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – Prosecutor Gonda van der Wulp has been removed from the Buncamper-case that goes to trial on September 9 and 10. Prosecutor Dounia Benammar, who works at the office of Attorney-General Guus Schram in Curacao, has been appointed as her replacement.

The prosecutor’s office did not want to comment on the reasons for the swap yesterday.

This newspaper learned from a reliable source that Van der Wulp allegedly overstepped her authority during a search at the house of the Buncampers on Ponum Drive in St Read more

Transparency International Presents Integrity Assessment: “Political Parties Are Weak In Representing Social Interests”

Transparency International’s regional director for the Americas Alejandro Salas and lead researcher Cora de Voit. Photo Today / Leo Brown

GREAT BAY – At 7 p.m. local time last night, Transparency International’s National Integrity System assessment for St. Maarten came online. The company presented the report at the same time at the university on Pond Island. St. Maarten has now come full circle with probing its integrity issues. There are four reports on the table: the Baseline Study Institutional Integrity from the General Audit Chamber, the integrity-reports from the Bob Wit-committee and PricewaterhouseCoopers and now the transparency assessment.

It contains three core recommendations, of which the third one is the most concrete Read more

Buncampers Sold The Right Of Long Lease To Sbs – On Paper

The site of Sint Maarten Building Supplies on Pond Island. Photo Today / Hilbert Haar

By Hilbert Haar / St. Maarten– It appears that former Minister of Public Health Maria Buncamper-Molanus and her husband Claudius sold the right of long lease to a parcel of land on Pond Island in 2013 for $345,000 to Sint Maarten Building Supplies (SBS) Read more

No Control On Right Of Long Lease By Council Of Ministers 

Former Minister Lake: “I am not aware of this”

St. Maarten – There is no control over the rules that apply to buying and selling rights of long lease by the Council of Ministers. This appears from a reaction by UP-MP Maurice Lake to questions from this newspaper about the long lease rights former Minister Maria Buncamper-Molanus and her husband Claudius sold on December 10, 2013 to Sint Maarten Building Supplies (SBS).

Yesterday this newspaper revealed how the Buncampers sold the right of long lease to a piece of land on Pond Island opposite the Melford Hazel Sports Complex for $345,000 to Sint Maarten Building Supplies Read more

Opinion: One-Way Ticket

So this is how things work in Dutch politics: a minister (Ivo Opstelten) gives the parliament incorrect information and after some toing and froing he steps down. His State Secretary Fred Teeven, who was up to his eyeballs in the deal about which Opstelten gave incorrect information, also left office.

Did these politicians commit a crime? Is there an irrevocable criminal conviction?

No. None of that.

And what was it all about? An issue that played fifteen years ago, when Teeven was a public prosecutor Read more

St. Maarten Parliament Keeps Silent On Integrity-Assessment

St. Maarten – It is easy to lose sight of a 250-page integrity report, but this is exactly what seems to be happening at this moment. Reason for Today to revisit the PricewaterhouseCoopers integrity-probe and to refresh the memory about the areas the researchers recommended for future analysis.

The issue that stands out, and has gained momentum due to recent developments concerning politicians, is the Parliament. The inquiry team has proposed as a major priority to conduct “a targeted integrity assessment of St Read more

Indictments Against The Buncampers Show: Forgery, Tax Fraud And Destruction Of Evidence

St. Maarten – The prosecution accuses former Public Health Minister Maria Buncamper-Molanus and her husband Claudius of membership of a criminal organization which objectives were forgery, incorrect and incomplete filing of tax returns and intentionally destroying evidence. This appears from the indictments that became public during a pro forma hearing in the Court in First Instance yesterday.

The Buncampers appeared in court together with three co-defendants, who are also accused of membership of a criminal organization – notary Francis Gijsbertha, Eco Green managing director Theodore Oniel Walters and Ivan H, of St Read more

Former Minister To Court In January: Buncamper-Molanus Charged With Membership Criminal Organization

St. Maarten – Tax fraud, forgery and participation in a criminal organization; these are the charges the Public Prosecutor’s Office has brought against Former Minister of Public Health, Social Affairs and Labor Maria Buncamper-Molanus. She has been summoned to appear in court for a pro forma hearing on Wednesday, January 7 of next year.

The charge for membership of a criminal organization suggests that there are more suspects, but a press release from the prosecutor’s office on Friday did not elaborate on this possibility Read more