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PHILIPSBURG--The court hearings in the so-called "Orca" case will be taking place on February 11 and 12, the Court of First Instance decided Wednesday during a brief session.
In the trial, former Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge (49) will be facing charges of accepting bribes from Bada Bing and Lunteren N.V.'s owner Jaap van den Heuvel (49) for the total amount of US $150,000 between October 2010 and September 2012.
In exchange for the money, Illidge allegedly was to use his power and influence to favour the Bada Bing owner in ensuring the Ministry of Economic Affairs would grant adapted permits to the nightclub and seek a change in its official registered address.
Illidge allegedly also was to promote extended opening hours for Bada Bing and seek the extension of work permits for several female employees.
Illidge was also charged with possession of an illegal firearm.
The indictment against Van den Heuvel consists of eight charges, including the alleged bribery of Illidge, money laundering and membership in a criminal organisation involved in forgery, tax evasion, trafficking of women and the employment of women without a work permit.
Lunteren N.V. and its employee K.E.v.d.B. (42) were separately indicted. The company was also charged with involvement in money laundering, trafficking of women, tax evasion and violation of the ordinance on the employment of foreign labourers.
Van den Heuvel is at the centre of the Bada Bing corruption case, which surrounds a videotape of Illidge apparently accepting banknotes from Van den Heuvel while the two discuss business permits.
Van den Heuvel is currently in the Netherlands and was not present at Wednesday's hearing. His attorney Cor Merx, however, assured that his client would appear in Court next month.
At a preliminary hearing held August 21, 2014, the Judge allowed for a number of witnesses to be heard by an investigating judge. During this hearing, the actual trial of the Bada-Bing case was scheduled for January 14 and 15, 2015.
However, as then presiding Judge Koos van de Ven left St. Maarten as per October 1, 2014, and his replacement Judge Maria Paulides was not installed before January 1, 2015, the planned hearings were rescheduled to allow the new Judge some extra time to settle herself and study the voluminous case file.
All three attorneys involved in this case – Ralph Richardson, Geert Hatzmann and Cor Merx – requested the Court to postpone the hearings until a later date because they needed more time to write their pleadings. Hatzmann said he had other plans as the trial would coincide with his birthday.
In pointing at the Court's full agenda, Judge Paulides, however, said it would be too "cumbersome and inopportune" to postpone the hearing any longer.
