Mafia Narco States in the Caribbean and their political stooges.

Proof that definite ties exist between the Italian Mafia and the political hierarchy in specifically the former Netherlands Antilles, abound and is quite prolific . The most recent cases of corruption is the Bada Bing, corruption scandal involving the now ruined for MP Patrick Illidge and the Bada Bing boss Jaap Van de Heuvel, where Illidge was paid in excess of $150,000 to insure that all necessary documents pertaining to said establishment would be regulated in due order. Illidge was to use his political office to insure that the Bada Bing boss operation could go on with all legal documentation in place. Van den Heuvel publicly admitted that he was instructed to video-tape meetings that he had with Illidge at Heyliger’s request in order “to destroy”, the coalition government. Another recent damning admition by a former high ranking ex-intel agent ( Curacoa Security Service VDC) ,based in Curacao Lawrence Pietersz , Lawrence was appointed as a Customs officer by (even though he was suspended from the VDC) ,former Prime Minister of Curacoa Gerrit Schotte and his Minister of Finance George Jamaloodin (a suspect in the assassination of parliamentarian Helmin Wiels). Last week  according to leaked documents he was a “mole”, for Schotte. Lawrence is alledged to have been present during meetings with Theo Heyliger (whose grandfather Claude Wathey was the first “pimp” politician who owned the first whore house “Seamns Club”, on Sint Maarten), and Francesco Corallo a well known mafia affiliated figure, who has been in and out of Italian courts on various Mob related charges (Corallo owned the famoius and scandalous club visage on Aruba). The Corallo’s were referred to as the only Mafia organisation, to own their own island, in reference to (Aruba where Natalie Holloway disappeared). A quote here from Ronald Wederfoort is in order “That there are ties between Schotte and Corallo is not new. In October of last year it became clear that there are links between Schotte and the Atlantis World Group. A memo from Curacao’s intelligence service that was leaked to the media showed that Schotte received 2 million guilders from Robbie’s Lottery-owner Robbie dos Santos to buy a large plot of land in Playa Abou when he was commissioner of tourism. The land is near Grote Knip where Dos Santos also has a real estate project.

The memo states that Dos Santos owns the project and that it was registered under the Playa Abou Holding. The director of this holding is Rudolf Baetsen, the chief financial officer of the Atlantis World Group and Schotte’s candidate for the function of chairman of the board of the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten. When this plan caused a controversy, Baetsen withdrew his candidacy.

Baetsen announced this in a letter to Schotte dated March 31, 2011, saying that he had been honored with the nomination. “I immediately resigned from my positions when I was informed about the nomination. Due to the controversy the announcement of my nomination caused, I believe it is in the best interest of our country that I respectfully decline your appointment.”

The timing of his letter to Italy’s Minister Maroni seems to suggest that Schotte subsequently made an attempt to make Corallo his next candidate for the top function on the Central bank board.

Corallo is in business with Robbie dos Santos in casinos in Curacao and in the Dominican Republic. On April 30, shortly after the fall of the first Wescot-Williams cabinet during the Calypso coup, he was spotted in the company of St. Maarten’s former Vice-Prime Minister Theo Heyliger. During the 2010 election campaign, Schotte attended one of the rallies of Heyliger’s United People’s party. It was held on the track of the unfinished ring road in the Great Salt Pond. Schotte, clad in a UP-shirt, endorsed Heyliger’s party, saying that the new countries St. Maarten and Curacao “must accept and continue to live with the reality that family bonds tie the islands together.” “Corallo is rumored to be the financial backer of Schotte’s MFK-party and also of Heyliger’s UP.

The Italian authorities issued in May an arrest warrant for Corallo linked to a scandal at the Banco Popolare di Milan. In August, Corallo appeared on the wanted list of Interpol.

He has since gone underground, though he has denied all allegations against him. Via his attorneys Corallo has offered the authorities in St. Maarten to come in on the condition that he would not be locked up in prison. Attorney General Dick Piar turned that offer down.

In an interview with the British industry magazine G3, Corallo explained in September that the charges against him in Italy are inspired by competitors in the lucrative Italian gaming market.

In the Netherlands, socialist Party MP Ronald van Raak picked up the story, claiming that he possesses confidential documents that confirm Gerrit Schotte’s ties with “a prominent member of the Italian mafia.” He told NRC Handelsblad yesterday that the Ministry of Home Affairs has known since last year about this. He wants to know from Home Affairs Minister Liesbeth Spies why she did nothing with the information and he wants to prevent Schotte from ever becoming a minister again.

The Telegraaf reported that the correspondence Van Raak possesses shows that Corallo is one of the large financial backers of the Schotte election campaign.

In the G3 interview, Corallo denies that he has anything to do with the mafia and that he has cut all ties with his father, who was sentenced to 7.5 years of imprisonment in the eighties of last century for organized crime”. Robbie Dos Santos the half brother of George Jamaloodin , the owner of Robbies lottery throughout the former Netherlands Antilles, has been under investigation for money laundering, several times in Curacoa as well as Sint Maarten. Dos Santos is a well known figure with ties to the Corallo’s and other high ranking Italian Mafiosi. Theo Heyliger was called mr “Ten” percent by Julian Rollocks in reference to his , mafia style tactics in running the harbour group of companies (which by the way are government owned but Heyliger treats it as his personal fiefdom). Interestingly Corallo was appointed by the government of Dominica as it’s permenant secretary to the Food and Agriculture Organization. “Fons Stoelinga of the Dutch embassy in Rome informed prime minister Schotte that he was informed by the cabinet minister that while there was no conviction against Corallo, he was suspected by the Italian authorities of being involved in criminal activities.
Stoelinga wrote "in police investigations during the years 1995-1997 into Francesco Corallo it turned out this person was involved in the drug trade and an important person in the Sicilian mafia. After the arrest of his father, Francesco Corallo started a tourism centre in St. Maarten via which money-laundering took place. This information was confirmed both by the Italian police and by the Italian intelligence service."
Unlike the Curacao authorities who conducted their due diligence and denied the post to Corallo, Dominica’s prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit appointed him as Dominica’s ambassador on June 11, 2011.
Following his appointment as ambassador, Corallo was held for questioning by Italian financial police over loans he received from the former chairman of "Banca Popolare di Milano" (BPM) Massimo Ponzellini. Corallo initially claimed” diplomatic immunity on account of his appointment as Dominica’s ambassador, a claim rejected by the Italian authorities.
Corallo is currently a fugitive from justice whose whereabouts is unknown. In August, 2012 he was placed on Interpol’s most wanted list with the international police organization saying he is wanted in Italy for organized and transnational crime and fraud”.  However, despite the outstanding warrant for his arrest, the government of Dominica has so far not taken any action to revoke Corallo’s appointment (makes one wonder how much money Skerrit was paid for Corallo’s appointment).