I am processing their official Court documents, translating to English, will post here, so CLICK back on this article
Breaking…Just In! Final Ruling From The Netherlands Supreme Court: Conviction of Politician, Former St Maarten Health Minister, Maria ‘Marietje’ Buncamper’s conviction for tax evasion remains in place.
March 23, 2021
The conviction of a politician on Sint Maarten for tax evasion remains in place.
The Supreme Court ruled that today.
The Case
The politician was prosecuted by the Public Prosecution Service for evading tax for a number of years by not filing a tax return on time. This concerned income tax and company turnover tax returns. The Common Court of Justice sentenced the suspect on appeal to 18 months in prison, of which 12 months suspended and 240 hours of community service. The suspect lodged an appeal in cassation with the Supreme Court.
Cassation (complaints)
In the cassation procedure, the defendant’s lawyer asked the Supreme Court to quash the conviction. One of the complaints was that the Court of Appeal had rejected several defenses of the defense aimed at declaring the Public Prosecution Service inadmissible in the prosecution on incorrect grounds. One of those defenses was that the suspect was entitled to a successful appeal to the so-called voluntary disclosure scheme because he had voluntarily submitted complaints. The defense also found the imposed punishment incomprehensible.
Judgment of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court ruled that the cassation complaints were unsuccessful. The Supreme Court dismissed the complaints without substantive reasons because the appeal in cassation is unfounded and does not raise any legally important new questions. With the judgment of the Supreme Court, the conviction and the sentence imposed are final.