PHILIPSBURG:--- The Court of Appeals granted the prosecution their request to arrest Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge to question and if necessary prosecute him in the ORCA (Bada Bing) investigation. Attorney General of St. Maarten Taco Stein presented his arguments to the Court of Appeals on December 17th, 2013 in a closed door session.
Stein confirmed to SMN News on Monday that he received the decision from the Court of Appeals on Monday and that it was in favor of the prosecution. Stein did not divulge any more information on how the prosecution intends to proceed with the case. When asked if they intend to invite the Member of Parliament to their office and then place him under arrest as they did with Jaap van den Heuvel or if detectives will show up at Illidge's Pointe Blanche home and arrest him sometime soon. Stein said the media will know in due time but those details will be discussed with the team on December 31st, 2013.
SMN News learnt that some of the charges against MP Illidge are possession of an illegal firearm, money laundering, bribery, and being part of a criminal organization. This could not be confirmed by the Attorney General or the Prosecutor's Office.
It should be noted that when the investigators searched the home of MP Illidge they found an illegal firearm inside his house while another illegal firearm was found in an apartment he is renting out. It is further understood that while MP Illidge has the right as a former Minister of the Netherlands Antilles to be in possession of a firearm for up to four years after leaving office. The firearm found inside of Illidge's home was bought from someone that was bringing in firearms through the A.C. Wathey Harbour and not in Curacao as is laid down in the law.
SMN News learnt that MP Patrick Illidge is currently off island on holidays and is expected to be back on St. Maarten by mid January.
