Protestors storm credit union office
fearing loss of cash investments
~ Office manager in custody ~
PHILIPSBURG/MARIGOT--The managers of a credit union office were detained by the Gendarmerie last night in La Savane.
Scores of angry investors fearing a major scam had gathered at the local branch of Canada-based International Interest and Business (IIB) in the Plaza Building, Philipsburg, earlier in the day to demand an explanation on why interest on their cash deposits had not been paid out.
Many victims fear their original investments, reportedly in amounts anywhere from 6,000 to 60,000 in euro or dollar accounts held on contracts, are now lost forever as the local branch has been unable to offer any explanation for non-payment.
According to victims, interest rates had been declining for months until no money was paid out at all. One investor said he believed “over 1,000 people” had deposited money with the company.
Investors, many of whom are Haitians, local St. Martiners, Dutch Antilleans, and Guadeloupeans, were spurred into taking matters into their own hands yesterday after a tip-off indicated that Haitian-born office manager Ginette Frederick and her husband Paul Antoine Hunt were at the airport, attempting to leave the island.
The couple were found and escorted back to the Philipsburg office where an angry crowd of more than 300 persons had gathered. Fearing for their own safety, the couple requested protection from the police, who escorted them to the Philipsburg police station to give an explanation.
Police spokesman Johan Leonard said Dutch-side police had been told by the couple that two persons had been arrested in the USA in connection with alleged money laundering and two others had been arrested in Guadeloupe. Apparently accounts were seized and the parent company was then unable to send money back to St. Martin to pay out investors.
The couple were not detained on the Dutch side because the IIB office is not registered in the name of Ginette Frederick. They were then handed over to the French-side authorities.
Gendarmerie spokesman Capitaine Stéphane Aurousseau confirmed yesterday that the Gendarmerie was now in charge of the case and the couple, who are French-side residents, would be detained for the maximum 48 hours as an investigation began. Prosecutor Quincy of Guadeloupe will decide whether the couple will be charged or released following the investigation.
Aurousseau said some 200 persons had filed complaints against the company at the La Savane headquarters Wednesday night. The company also previously had an office in Marigot at 14 Rue de la Liberté, and has outlets in the USA, Martinique and Guadeloupe.
“We have had to take the details of everybody who complained and we will call them back for individual interviews in the next few days,” he said.
He said there might also be Dutch-side victims who could file complaints with the Gendarmerie or at the police station in Philipsburg.
Investing in an IIB account became a very attractive proposition for many, and accounts could be opened with a minimum of 2,000 euros and an insurance payment to safeguard the investment. A six-month contract with a deposit of 2,000 euros, for example, would pay 400 euros in interest every month, with the last month’s interest retained by the company.
The client’s money was being invested in other financial markets in the meantime. At the end of the contract period the initial investment would be returned to the client. Lately, one-year contracts or longer were offered by the company. The St. Maarten branch of the company has been in business for five years.
Interest rates apparently started going down a year ago, from 20 to 15 to 10 per cent and lower.
“They gave excuses about the rates going down, but people were still investing, and four months ago they stopped paying out money completely,” one victim told The Daily Herald. “The lady (Ginette) kept saying next month we’ll get it, and all kinds of stories. She was the only one here in charge, and still taking money from people. She stopped answering her phone and changed her numbers.”
