WILLEMSTAD - A series of confidential audit reports reveal that Alfonso Trona, head of Curaçao’s Tax Receiver’s Office, personally intervened for years in tax collection and payment arrangements, often without written justification and outside official control procedures. The findings, originally submitted to Parliament by then-Minister of Finance Javier Silvania (MFK) in March 2024, have come to light through documents obtained by the NOS.
The audits describe a troubling pattern in which Trona bypassed internal oversight mechanisms, granting special arrangements to certain taxpayers — including senior officials and politicians — in violation of Curaçao’s fiscal regulations.
Preferential Treatment and Lack of Oversight
According to the reports, Trona personally decided which taxpayers received payment plans or had their property seizures lifted, often giving such instructions verbally or by phone. Dozens of case files examined by government auditors showed that orders were executed “on instruction of the Receiver”, with no explanation or written documentation.
In several instances, advance payments or refunds were authorized before tax assessments were finalized — sometimes for civil servants or former politicians — based on informal requests “via phone or WhatsApp,” as noted in the reports.
Minister Silvania confirmed these findings in his letter to Parliament, stating: “The audit reports clearly show that there was preferential treatment of certain taxpayers.”
Trona defended his actions, claiming he acted within his “discretionary authority” as Receiver. However, the government’s auditors concluded that his decisions were undocumented, unverified, and therefore in violation of established laws and regulations.
Centralized Power and Shadow Files
The audits portray a system where formal tax collection rules were routinely ignored and key decisions were centralized under Trona’s personal control. Investigators found that enforcement officers were instructed verbally to halt seizures or amend payment plans — without written orders — effectively neutralizing internal checks and balances.
Auditors also discovered references to what employees called “the drawer” — a private folder allegedly maintained by Trona himself, containing sensitive or “personal” arrangements. Staff confirmed that some of these deals were never digitally recorded, making it impossible to verify who benefited or by how much.
Case Example: Florida Express N.V.
One case cited in the audits involves Florida Express N.V., a company fined by Customs for filing false import declarations. The original debt amounted to €2.2 million. After Customs lawfully reduced the fine, Trona personally signed a new payment agreement with the company, setting monthly installments at just 1,425 euros, with no collateral or interest.
The government’s accountants deemed this deal “improper,” noting that no financial assessment or written rationale was included in the file. At that rate, auditors calculated, the debt would take over 30 years to repay.
Millions in Question
The audit team reviewed roughly 100 high-risk cases, documenting around 10 million guilders in questionable arrangements and advance payments directly involving Trona. Officials stress this figure likely represents only a fraction of the total losses, with estimates suggesting tens of millions of guilders in uncollected revenue for the Curaçao treasury.
None of the reviewed files contained the legally required justifications or financial calculations, leaving the legitimacy of many payments impossible to verify.
Silence and Structural Failures
The reports and Silvania’s letter were sent to Parliament on March 25, 2024, with copies also provided to the Board of Financial Supervision (Cft). In its semi-annual report, the Cft later noted that Curaçao’s tax collection system suffers from “structural governance problems.”
In a February 2025 statement, the Cft urged the government to accelerate reforms and modernization of the Tax Administration, as agreed with the Netherlands under the Landspakket—the reform program tied to COVID-19 financial support for the Caribbean islands.
Political Fallout and Cancelled Debate The
Curaçao Tax Administration consists of two divisions: the Inspectorate, which assesses taxes, and the Receiver’s Office, which collects them. Under Trona, power became heavily concentrated in the latter.
Despite the severity of the findings, Parliament never held a public debate. A scheduled meeting on the escalating conflict between Minister Silvania and Trona — who publicly defended himself by referring to “the drawer only he knows about” — was abruptly cancelled by the government before it began.
The controversy has exposed how millions in public revenue slipped through the cracks of oversight, revealing a deep governance crisis within Curaçao’s fiscal system. While government insiders have described the findings as “shocking,” the public is only now beginning to understand how the island’s tax authority lost control — and at what cost to Curaçao’s finances.
