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Court Sentences St. Maarten Man in Tax Fraud and Money Laundering Case
WILLEMSTAD — The Common Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and the BES islands has sentenced a St. Maarten man for tax fraud and money laundering after authorities determined that the Government of St. Maarten lost more than ANG 700,000 in tax revenue as a result of the scheme.
The ruling, issued on March 6, 2026, found that the suspect, together with another individual, was responsible for submitting false turnover tax and income tax declarations through two companies they managed. The court also found that the defendant failed to file his own personal income tax returns within the legally required period.
In addition to the tax fraud convictions, the court ruled that the laundering of two vehicles with a combined value of approximately USD 119,000 had been proven.
According to the case file, the suspect had previously been convicted in 2017 for similar offenses. Despite that earlier conviction and a three-year probation period, the defendant continued committing fiscal crimes, which the court considered an aggravating factor in determining the sentence.
During the appeal proceedings, prosecutors and the defense reached a procedural agreement in which the suspect accepted several conditions, including cooperating with the judicial process and refraining from filing additional objections. Based on that agreement, the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested a prison sentence of 21 months without parole.
The original sentence had been set at 22 months. However, the court reduced the punishment by one month because the judicial proceedings exceeded what is considered a “reasonable time” under criminal procedure standards.
The court ultimately sentenced the defendant to 21 months of unconditional imprisonment. Judges also decided not to enforce a previously suspended 18-month prison sentence, citing the suspect’s cooperation in the current proceedings and the age of the earlier case.
In its ruling, the court stated that tax fraud on this scale not only causes substantial financial damage to the government, but also undermines public trust in St. Maarten’s fiscal and judicial systems.