Philipsburg:--- Former appointed Minister of Finance Hiro Shigemoto is expected to appear before the judge of instruction on Thursday for an extension of his pre-trial detention, confirmed Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos. When asked if Shigemoto will remain in custody until Thursday, Mos said that the former Minister who was also a civil servant will not receive any special treatment. "Mr. Shigemoto will be treated like everyone else and he will appear before the Judge of Instruction on Thursday," Mos explained.
Mos said the former Minister of Finance (civil servant) is suspected of committing embezzlement, fraud, and he is also accused of abusing the rules of Government. Mos said that the former Minister of Finance paid Global Advisory Services double for the services they provided for Government while recruiting staff for the Tax Department outside of St. Maarten.
Shigemoto, a diabetic patient, was arrested on Monday morning around 10am at his Pointe Blanche home by detectives from the Landsrecherché (national police). SMN News learnt that Shigemoto had to be placed on oxygen while being incarcerated in the sick bay at the Pointe Blanche Prison. Sources from the prison said that the former Minister has several medical complications and having him on oxygen is normal because it is something he has to use even when he is at home.
Last week the same team of detectives arrested the owner of Global Advisory Services and Co-Manager of WINAIR Roberto Gibbs. Gibbs was held on charges of fraud, forgery, and money laundering. Gibbs was released by the judge of instruction last week Thursday when the Prosecutor's office sought to have his pre-trial detention extended for a second period.
SMN News learnt from reliable sources that Gibbs named a number of persons while in custody who were involved in the embezzlement scheme. The investigation that is currently taking place is called the Piranha investigation in which a number of politicians and senior department heads are suspected of being involved in major corruption and embezzling of government funds. The Piranha investigation started in 2010 when the former director of finance Bas Roorda turned over vital information to the Prosecutor's office linking former commissioners to the scheme of pocketing government monies.
It is not yet clear if the Landsrecherché will link the case they started against the former head of the Tourism Bureau Regina Labega to the Piranha investigation. When asked about that, Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos declined to comment further on the ongoing investigation.
However, Attorney General of St. Maarten Taco Stein said on Tuesday said based on what he knew the two cases are separate even though the same person (Bas Roorda) turned over information to the Prosecutor's Office in both cases. When SMN News pressed Stein for more information on the case involving former Minister of Labour and Health Maria Buncamper Molanus who sold the economic rights of government lease land, Stein said his office and the Prosecutor's office are monitoring at least two cases closely. "Stein said none of the cases that are on the desk of the Landsrecherché were swept under the carpet as perceived by many persons in society. Stein further explained that his office is monitoring the case that involves former Minister of Health and Labour Maria Buncamper Molanus because he too read where she officially announced that she will be participating in the 2014 elections. When SMN News asked Stein when his office would bring the Election Fraud case to court since three police officers and a civil servant working at the Philipsburg Police station gave sworn statements that they accepted monies from the leader of the United Peoples Party in exchange for their votes. Stein said that his office set priorities on the cases they chose to investigate. He said the Election Fraud case is indeed important but the Landsrecherché is short staffed and they will announce when they start making progress in the investigations.
It should be noted that the Election Fraud case started way before the cases that involve Shigemoto and Labega and even though the Attorney General and Prosecutor's Office know that the suspects in these cases can get away scotch free because of the amount of time it takes before it reaches before a judge, the Attorney General of St. Maarten said he believes that the Piranha investigation takes priority over the other cases.
