One arrested as Dutch anti-corruption team raids Sint Maarten

A Dutch police team aimed at fighting corruption in the Caribbean part of the Netherands, is gaining steam. On Monday the team raided a number of properties on Sint Maarten and arrested a 35 year old man. He is suspected of money laundering, forgery and tax evasion, the Volkskrant reports.

Souces on the island told the newspaper that the arrested man owns a security company that secures the prison on the island, among other things. He donated money to a politician to buy votes before the elections in September this year, according to the sources.

This is the second major investigation by the anti-corruption team. In August the team raided properties connected to Emsley Tromp, the director of the Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten.

Martine Vis, chief of the Criminal Investigation Team in Curacao, hopes that this approach will bring on a "change of mentality" on the islands. "We'll tackle some crooks. And in doing so we do not look at the political side of a case. The police are only interested in crimes. It does not matter to me whether the perpetrators is a banker, a director of a government company or a politician", he said to the newspaper.