WILLEMSTAD - The Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten has filed a lawsuit against its former president, Emsley Tromp, and his former secretary-director, Jerrald "Jerry" Hasselmeyer. The case concerns a claim that the Central Bank has against the former president and his secretary.
On August 10, 2016, the anti-corruption team of the RST conducted a raid on Tromp's house. These judicial actions were the result of an investigation that began in early 2016 and was related to tax fraud in the private sphere.
The case against Tromp, known as "Sapphire," was heard in court, where the prosecutor presented accusations against Tromp of tax evasion and forgery during the period from 2006 to 2014. Tromp was acquitted of these charges in both the trial court and on appeal.
However, in a civil case in January 2018, Tromp lost to the Foundation Curaçao Strong and Autonomous. This foundation accused Tromp of malfeasance and corruption. The basis for these accusations was a report from the General Audit Chamber, which showed an unexplained sum of eight million guilders under certain items of the Central Bank, for which Tromp had not provided detailed explanations.
His silence on this matter was seen as a reason for the accusations of corruption against him. On October 17, 2017, Tromp was sent into retirement. Now, the Central Bank is seeking a substantial amount from the former president.