WILLEMSTAD, ZWOLLE - Hundreds of millions were laundered in the lingerie shops of the G. family in Curaçao. In 2015, they were enthralled by a large-scale police action. In the meantime, their lawyers have signed a remarkable deal with the judiciary: a reduction in sentences in exchange for openness.
The G. family has owned several tourist shops in the Curaçao for decades. As soon as an American cruise ship moors in the port of Willemstad, the cash registers ring at G. through the sale of T-shirts, lingerie and watches, among other things.
But in 2007 this suddenly changes. Thousands of Venezuelans, forced by the collapsing economy in their own country, come to the neighboring Dutch Caribbean to exchange their worthless bolivars for sturdy dollars. For this, they use "dollar credit cards" especially facilitated by their government in Caracas for specific purchases during trips abroad.
The Venezuelans get a very favorable dollar rate on these credit cards. With these credit cards, they pin dollars in the stores of G.
Family G. states on the receipts that medicines or lingerie have been purchased for this, since this is checked in Caracas.
Dollar tourism from Venezuela is taking such an enormous flight on Curaçao that within a few years this family alone will be debited with $ 322 million. The credit cards are flown in by Venezuelan intermediaries with boxes at the same time. G.'s clothing and lingerie shops become a side issue and they even set up a pharmaceutical company exclusively for debit cards in Amsterdam on paper. Through an account at ING Bank and with ATMs from the Netherlands, it seems as if the Venezuelans have bought medicines at the Cruquiuskade in Amsterdam, instead of dollars pinned in Willemstad, Curacao.
The American bank Wells Fargo warns ING Bank for the suspiciously large amount of dollar transactions, after which ING terminates the contract with the family in early 2015. Half a year later, those involved in the G. family are arrested on suspicion of money laundering and forgery. ING reached a settlement of 775 million euros last year, among other things for the poor control of the G's PIN activities.
Maduro & Curiel’s Bank (MCB) also participates in the agreement between the money laundering family G. and the judiciary. This local bank, which, like ING Bank, facilitated the money laundering circus on the island for many years, pays for several million dollars in the deal, which totals tens of millions.
The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) underlines that the agreements with the suspect family G. are all first submitted to the judge for review. Tom Lucas, lawyer for one of the suspect brothers Isaac G., points out the benefits of the deal with the OM. "Such agreements provide for a social need not to allow this type of business to go on indefinitely," said Lucas. For example, the lawyers refrain from hearing dozens of witnesses and the suspects will openly explain what they have been up to in Curaçao.
Interesting
At the beginning of this year, the Dutch Minister of Justice Ferdinand Grapperhaus called the prosecution's plan to negotiate with suspects to speed up criminal proceedings "very interesting." Affairs. Or as the FIOD detective present at the trial in Zwolle said Tuesday: "Otherwise I will still be working on this case in five years."
