WILLEMSTAD - The government led by Prime Minister Pisas has acquired the well-known outdoor brothel Campo Alegre. In the auction held this morning, eight million guilders were sufficient to become the owner. Pisas himself was present at the auction and was authorized by the Ministry of Finance to go up to eleven million. The money will be deposited in the Crime Fund. 

Although the auction had been scheduled to take place earlier, it was postponed twice because the Public Prosecutor's Office could not find bona fide buyers. 

The brothel had an asking price of 8.9 million guilders, and potential buyers had to provide a bank guarantee of 5 million guilders. 

Drugs and Money Laundering 

One of the complicating factors is a legal case dating back to 2013. At that time, the Court of Appeals ruled that the company Wilshire Advisors Ltd, which owned Campo Alegre, owed the government of Curaçao fourteen million guilders in an expropriation case. The Court found that Wilshire had purchased Campo Alegre, among other things, with drug money and through money laundering. 

Since Wilshire did not fulfill its payment obligations to the Curaçao government, there have been various attempts by the government and the judiciary to auction Campo Alegre since 2014. The proceeds from the auction would cover Wilshire's debt to the government. 

Destination 

The new purpose of the outdoor brothel has not been officially announced yet. Pisas maintains that the government has not purchased a brothel but a resort with buildings. However, Prime Minister Pisas's party, MFK, has never kept it a secret that it intends to restore the brothel to its former function.