PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – According to reports reaching our news department, founder and former leader of the United People’s Party, suspected Member of Parliament, Theo Heyliger has been acquitted of all charges in the CATFISH investigation.
He was found not guilty on Thursday morning .
The acquittal of Mr. Heyliger has also been confirmed by his wife, Grisha Martin-Heyliger on her Facebook page, which reads, “Thank God….he’s been acquitted!! AMEN AND AMEN!!”
The preliminary hearing in the CATFISH investigation took place Thursday, October 24th in court. The Public Prosecution Service at the time was demanding a prison sentence of 12 months of which 6 months’ were conditional for the then suspect Theo Heyliger.
The prosecution also demanded that co-suspect Jerry Sardine be held liable for complicity in the attempt to bribe then Member of Parliament Romain Laville. He too, according to the report has been acquitted as well.
The Public Prosecution Service was also demanding that both suspects be prohibited from running for office for the duration of 5 years.
The CATFISH investigation started in March 2013 after Laville filed an official complaint of attempted bribery. Theo Heyliger was suspected of bribing Laville between late 2012 and early 2013. According to the Public Prosecutor at the time, declarations by key witnesses, SMS messages, telephone calls and messages from public sources motivate the claims against Heyliger and Sardine.
Moreover according to the evidence, the suspects had met with Laville on at least 4 occasions to discuss the proposal. During these meetings, a number of topics were discussed, among which, giving up his seat in Parliament.
Laville was offered several gifts and promises, which includes monetary compensations in the amount of a maximum of US $350.000, the OM said in a press release at the time.
