PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC – The National Assembly will meet on Thursday to decide whether to give the Public Prosecution Service (OM) the green light to proceed with 19 criminal charges against former finance minister Gillmore Hoefdraad.
In a motion filed with the National Assembly last week, the Attorney General (PG) is asking Parliament to indict the 64-year-old former minister and former governor of the Central Bank of Suriname following what it claims was an extensive criminal investigation into large-scale financial irregularities at the Surinamese Post Savings Bank (SPSB).
According to the OM, the findings of the Judicial Intervention Team (JIT) paint a picture of a systematic system of corruption, fraud, and abuse of power during Hoefdraad’s term as finance minister between 2015 and 2020.
In the indictment, the Attorney General argues that there are sufficient indications that Hoefdraad, during his time as minister, facilitated a complex system that allowed state funds to be used outside regular oversight.
Under Suriname law, because the alleged criminal offenses were committed during his term as minister, the prosecution can only proceed under the special procedure for political office holders.
As a result, it is now up to the National Assembly to decide whether Hoefdraad will be formally charged, and only after such a decision can the Public Prosecution Service proceed with further criminal prosecution.
In July 2021, an INTERPOL red notice was issued for Hoefdraad, but it was later rescinded. On December 17, 2021, he was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The latest allegations against the former finance minister include participation in a criminal organization, as well as being suspected of involvement in the forgery of documents by a civil servant, forgery, fraud, and various forms of embezzlement.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, a key element of the suspicions is the deliberate circumvention of the State’s legal cashier – the Central Bank of Suriname – and the associated control mechanisms.
But the OM alleges that starting in March 2016, Hoefdraad ordered substantial state revenues to be deposited into accounts at the Surinamese Post Savings Bank.
It said that this involved large sums of tax revenue, visa fees, and proceeds from the sale of tourist cards.
“As Minister of Finance, Hoefdraad was responsible for the management of the national treasury by the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS). During his term of office, Hoefdraad ordered that a large portion of state revenues deposited with the CBvS, including tax revenues, visa proceeds, and tourist cards, be transferred to Ministry of Finance accounts at the SPSB, which he had opened there on March 3, 2016.
“This occurred while it was known to him from his time as governor of the CBvS that the SPSB had an unsatisfactory rating, was facing serious problems, and lacked the legal basis, systems, and expertise to handle state finances. Through this course of action, the statutory oversight of, among others, the Clad, the Court of Audit, the Treasury Inspectorate, and the BFZ (Budget for Financial Affairs), was circumvented,” according to the indictment.
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