PHILIPSBURG - Theo Heyliger (53) has been instructed to report to the Point Blanche prison in Sint Maarten today. The former politician has to serve a five-year sentence for accepting bribes and money laundering.
In May 2020, Heyliger, along with four co-defendants, was found guilty by the Court of First Instance in the "Larimar" case, involving the payment of bribes related to various major construction projects, including the causeway bridge, and the laundering of large sums of money.
The court found that Heyliger had accepted a total of $3.36 million in bribes from construction company Windward Roads BV, industrial supplier Central Concrete Mix, dredging company Devcon TCI Ltd., and the Dutch construction company Volker Construction International BV.
This took place during Heyliger's time as commissioner, parliamentarian, and Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure (VROMI).
Three days
Heyliger's wife, current parliamentarian Grisha Heyliger-Marten, confirmed to The Daily Herald that her husband received the notification on Friday at 10:00 AM. The notice gave him three days to report to the country's only prison.
Heyliger-Marten criticized the timing of the Public Prosecutor's summons, which was delivered just four hours after her reelection to Parliament, following an all-night count of Thursday's election votes.
This meant spending the weekend with her family while simultaneously being involved in what she described as 'challenging' negotiations to form a new government coalition.
Deal
Last October, the Public Prosecutor and Heyliger withdrew their appeal against the lower court's verdict, making the sixty-month prison sentence final. As part of a deal with the Public Prosecutor, Heyliger agreed to pay five million dollars to the Crime Prevention Fund and relinquish his rights to rental income from various properties.
The Public Prosecutor had originally sought to seize about $17.5 million in an expropriation claim against the former parliamentarian and VROMI minister. The claim involved not only the criminal proceeds from the 'Larimar' investigation into large-scale corruption in Sint Maarten but also money 'earned' from other crimes for which Heyliger was not convicted, prosecutors said in 2021.
Heyliger's acceptance of the court's verdict was a surprise, as he had consistently denied the charges during his trial almost four years ago.