Former Minister Benny Sevinger is Found Guilty of Fraud, Bribery, and Embezzlement 2 Other Defendants Sentenced, while 4 Acquitted

Yesterday afternoon, the Court of Appeal delivered a ruling in the ‘Avestruz’ case, involving former minister Benny Sevinger and six other individuals. The case began with an investigation into possible corruption in the allocation of government lands between 2009 and 2017.

Sevinger was previously sentenced to 12 months in prison, 6 of which were conditional, and he appealed the sentence. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) demanded in the appeal 4 years of imprisonment, removal from public office, and a long-term disqualification from passive voting rights. The defense denied the accusations and presented new witnesses.

The court began with the defendants Mansur, Nunes, and Werleman, who were suspected of defrauding the country of Aruba in a ‘conspiracy’ with former minister Sevinger. In the first instance, each of the three defendants was sentenced to 24 months in prison, 12 of which were conditional, plus a fine of 25,000 florins or an additional 190 days in prison. However, the Court of Appeal found insufficient evidence to speak of fraud, noting that to convict someone of fraud, deliberate and premeditated intent must be proven. The court found insufficient evidence that suspects Mansur, Nunez, and Werleman had the intent to defraud Aruba in a ‘conspiracy’ with former minister Sevinger and therefore declared the three suspects acquitted of all charges. The Public Prosecution Service has 2 weeks to appeal the verdict.

The court then elaborated on the case of suspect Harms, who was suspected of bribing former minister Sevinger by making donations to his ‘Fundacion Curason Berde’ while having pending requests, thus trying to persuade former minister Sevinger to favor him. However, the court showed that it is not unusual for businessmen to make donations before, during, and after election campaigns, as this is the only source of income for political foundations, and the foundation in question received donations from more businessmen during this same period. The court showed that the donation was properly recorded in Harms’ company books and that no irregularities were found in Harms’ company’s administration aside from the donation. The court declared Harms acquitted of all charges. The Public Prosecution Service has 2 weeks to appeal the verdict.

Defendant Sussebeek also faced charges of bribing former minister Sevinger and money laundering amounting to $1.3 million. Sussebeek was accused of ‘gifting’ (financing) ‘fencing’ and ‘landscaping’ for the care of former minister Sevinger’s house, as well as a gym machine for his own use, in exchange for favoring him regarding options for one or more leasehold lands. The court opined that the value of these types of gifts is not usual among friends as presented by the defense and found Sussebeek guilty of bribery and money laundering. The court imposed a prison sentence of 30 months, of which 10 are conditional, deducting time spent in pre-trial detention, a probation period of 3 years, and maintained the seizure of the $1.3 million. The defense has 2 weeks to appeal.

Lastly, the court elaborated on defendants Arends and former minister Sevinger, who were accused of conspiring to defraud Aruba by acquiring leasehold rights through companies owned by Arends while having no intention of developing the concerned lands. By placing these companies—as entities—between the minister as the option and leasehold granter and the real developers of the lands, these developers had to pay significantly higher sums than would have been the case without the companies’ intervention. Arends was also accused of bribing the former minister by paying him from the sale of one of his companies, and the minister accepted this payment. The court found sufficient evidence that Arends was guilty of defrauding Aruba and bribing the former minister and sentenced him to 24 months in prison, of which 12 are conditional, with a probation period of 3 years. The defense has 2 weeks to appeal the court’s decision.

Regarding former minister Sevinger, the court found sufficient evidence that he conspired with defendant Arends to defraud Aruba. Additionally, the court found him guilty of accepting the care, garden arrangement, and gym equipment from businessman Sussebeek. Finally, the minister was sentenced for embezzling more than Afl 11,000 from the foundation that collected and managed the funds for his elections. This money was used for a private trip to his house. The minister was acquitted of another fraud charge and two other bribery charges. The former minister received a prison sentence of 48 months, of which 12 are conditional, with a probation period of three years. He is also disqualified from being elected or working as a public official for five years. Lawyer Illes announced an appeal against this sentence.