Two top cops to stand
trial on September 17
~ Holiday, Marsdin face fraud charges ~
PHILIPSBURG--Top-ranking police officials Derrick Holiday and Alfred Marsdin will both be standing trial on Wednesday, September 17, Chief Prosecutor of the Windward Islands Taco Stein confirmed Monday.
Police Chief Commissioner Derrick Holiday and Police Inspector Alfred “Churchill” Marsdin are both under suspicion of having committed fraud.
Holiday was arrested by Federal Detectives on February 5. His trial was suspended on April 16 for an indefinite period to allow the Investigating Judge time to hear witnesses.
Holiday is suspected of involvement in signing 43 forged Immigration documents between April and August 2004, and of violating the Federal Ordinance on Admittance and Expulsion LTU between October and December 2006. He will be charged further with forgery of documents between February 2004 and June 2007 to obtain a rent allowance from the Central Government to which he was not entitled.
Several witnesses have been heard in the past months concerning this case. Among these witnesses were Police Inspector Davnis Francisca and Donald Hughes, Director of Petrudon Architects and Construction and D&D Developers, as well as former Lt. Governors Russell Voges and Dennis Richardson, former Acting Lt. Governor Mathias Voges, and Holiday’s secretary Beryl Henriquez.
Marsdin is suspected of involvement in forgery while serving as Chief of Immigration at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA). The 32- year Police Force veteran was arrested on March 12 and released one day later.
Three top cops were arrested within less than one year on the suspicion of having committed fraud. Chief of Immigration Police Commissioner Marcel Loor was the first high-profile arrest made. He was arrested on June 19, 2007, and was sentenced in November to four years for forgery, bribery, tax evasion and money laundering. The Joint Court of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba commuted this sentence to 24 months, six of which were suspended, and a fine of NAf. 15,000.
Still maintaining his innocence, Loor will appeal this sentence at the High Court in The Hague.
