PHILIPSBURG:--- The Court of First Instance of St. Maarten has ordered the immediate lifting of all conservatory attachments placed by Flow on the bank accounts of TELEM and its affiliated companies, finding that the freezing of the accounts had effectively crippled the telecommunications provider's financial operations while the underlying commercial dispute remains unresolved.
The ruling, handed down on June 24, 2026, in Case SXM202600693 (ECLI:NL:OGEAM:2026:81), concerns a dispute over approximately Cg. 1.24 million that Flow claims TELEM has owed since 2021 and 2022 for telecommunications services provided between the companies.
Flow and TELEM have maintained a long-standing business relationship in both St. Maarten and Curaçao, relying on each other's telecommunications infrastructure to provide interconnection and cross-over services. Those services are invoiced and periodically settled between the companies.
According to Flow, negotiations held throughout 2023 and 2024 resulted in a settlement under which TELEM acknowledged that it owed Cg. 1,238,806.96. Based on that claim, Flow successfully obtained permission from the Court to impose conservatory attachments on Telem's accounts at Windward Islands Bank (WIB/Maduro & Curiel's Bank N.V.), RBC Royal Bank N.V., and Republic Bank (St. Maarten) N.V. The attachments were executed on June 12, 2026.
TELEM challenged the seizures in summary proceedings, arguing that it has subsequent counterclaims against Flow that should be set off against any outstanding balance. The company maintained that freezing all of its operating accounts threatened its ability to continue functioning as one of the country's major telecommunications providers.
Court: TELEM was Financially Crippled
In one of the most significant findings in the judgment, the Court concluded that the freezing of all bank accounts had placed TELEM in an untenable financial position.
The Court stated that all bank accounts belonging to the TELEM companies involved in the proceedings had been frozen. As a practical consequence, TELEM could only continue operating with money deposited into its accounts after the attachments were executed.
The judge further observed that, even without conducting additional investigations, the Court accepted that the attachments had effectively financially crippled TELEM. Because of the freezing of accounts, employees and suppliers could no longer be paid, or could only be paid to a very limited extent.
Adding to that conclusion, the Court noted that Flow itself had argued that Telem's financial position was already weak, making the consequences of the attachments even more severe.
Under those circumstances, the Court ruled that Telem's interest in having the attachments lifted outweighed Flow's interest in maintaining them, particularly because the disagreement over Telem's claimed right to set-off has already existed since 2024.
Court Questions Financial Information
The judgment also addressed the financial information relied upon in the proceedings.
In paragraph 4.22 of the decision, the Court noted that the financial statements presented were not fully up to date, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about Telem's present financial condition. The Court indicated that because the available financial information was not current, it could not make a reliable assessment based solely on those statements.
Rather than deciding the underlying financial dispute during the summary proceedings, the Court focused on the immediate consequences of maintaining the attachments and concluded that continuing the seizure would cause disproportionate harm to Telem's business operations.
Dispute Not Yet Decided
The Court emphasized that the ruling does not determine whether Flow is ultimately entitled to recover the claimed Cg. 1.24 million. That question will have to be resolved in substantive civil proceedings, where both Flow's claim and Telem's alleged counterclaims can be fully examined.
For now, however, the Court found that maintaining the conservatory attachments was unjustified in light of the severe operational consequences for TELEM.
The judgment therefore orders the immediate lifting of all conservatory attachments placed on June 12, restoring Telem's full access to its bank accounts while the commercial dispute proceeds through the ordinary civil court process.
