Prosecutor trying to send
Loor to Bon Futuro Prison
PHILIPSBURG--The Prosecutor’s Office is seeking to send convicted Police Commissioner and former chief immigration officer Marcel Loor (38) to Bon Futuro Prison in Curaçao.
The Court of First Instance found Loor guilty on Friday of forgery, bribery, tax evasion and money laundering. His attorneys promptly filed an appeal against Judge Luis de Lannoy’s decision with the court on that same day. De Lannoy sentenced the convicted policeman to four years in prison.
Regarding the outcome of the high profile court case, Chief Prosecutor Taco Stein said Sunday, “There is a form of satisfaction in the way the case has been conducted, but of course it’s only the first round, which has passed, and we now have to deal with the appeal.”
Loor’s arrest stirred renewed concerns about allegations of large-scale wrongdoings within the Police Force, particularly within the Immigration Department at both Princess Juliana International Airport and the local police station in Philipsburg.
However, Stein said that while Loor’s conviction could be cause for concern as to whether there were others within the Police Force who were guilty of similar criminal acts and were getting away with it, the conviction showed that the Prosecutor’s Office at least was capable of “cleaning up its act and bringing criminals to justice.”
He called the Loor investigation a difficult one, because it was the first high-profile case involving a top-ranking police officer, which meant that all efforts to detain him had to be carefully planned, as the risk of besmirching his character would be irreversible had they erred in judgement when probing the alleged offences.
Regarding sending Loor to Curaçao, Stein said his office was trying to do so because he was still in the sick bay at the Pointe Blanche prison, which meant the facility could not be used for its intended purpose.
He said that while the laws of the Netherlands Antilles allowed bail, it was seldom used, although he suspected that Loor’s defence attorneys Richard Gibson Jr. and Klaas de Vries would request their client’s release.
What will happen now judicially is that the judge will prepare a complete document, including his reason for sentencing and the details involving the trial, which will go to the High Court. Three Judges at High Court level will judge the case based on the documents and the information produced by the police, and will hand down their verdict.
This can take several months and can result in the sentence being upheld. If so, Loor has one more possibility to appeal, this time to the Supreme Court in The Hague. However, this court only looks at whether the law has been applied properly and whether all procedures have been followed. If so, it upholds the verdict, but if not, it can refer the case to the High Court again to have the latter deal with its specific recommendations.
Loor was found guilty on seven charges and was called “a greedy wolf in sheep’s clothing” by Judge de Lannoy. The court also ordered him to pay a fine of NAf. 600,000 and NAf. 191,254 in damages to the Coast Guard of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.
The possibility also exists that that Tax Department will claim NAf. 379,114 in evaded taxes and premiums, and the Prosecutor’s Office probably will take steps to seize all monies and property Loor has accumulated by means of criminal activity.
