Former Aruba labor minister Paul Croes has his day in court

ORANJESTAD – The criminal case where a former Aruba Labor minister Paul Croes is the main suspect, took shape Wednesday morning in an Aruban court. The fact that is was merely a procedural case, did not make it less popular. And it was obvious, as this was the first indication of what was to be expected of the case and more important, the legal future of the former minister. A procedural case is where all parties come together and fine tune pending issues, tie up loose ends, and set a date for the case to be treated.

SECOND SEATING

At the end the judge approved a second procedural seating, giving parties more time to interview more witnesses and give defendants more time to get related documents to the case. It was in fact the lack of information that had the attorneys of defendants request for a second ‘seating’. Croes faces a list of 6 formal accusations stemming from passive corruption, fraude, money laundering, and unlawfully employing undocumented people. His wife and 3 other defendants were also in court.