Former Central Bank employee jailed in Suriname
A judge Monday sentenced the former head of the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvSi), Faranaaz Hausil, to three years in jail on corruption-related charges.
The judge also deducted the time she spent in prison awaiting trial, meaning she will spend a little over a year in jail following the conviction.
Hasil, who was director of Legal, Compliance & International Affairs of the CVBS, has been in prison since August 2020 for what the authorities claim to participate in a criminal organization that included co-defendants Robert-Gray van Trikt, the former CBvS governor, Gillmore Hoefdraad, former finance minister, and Ginmardo Kromosoeto, the former director of the Surinamese Postal Savings Bank.
In reducing the sentence, the judge noted that Hausil had been a first-time offender.
The judge noted that while the former CBvS employee was under pressure to engage in criminal activities, she should have known much better as the legal head of the bank and as a member of the Central Accounts Service (Clad).
The judge said that her actions had caused severe damage to the Central Bank.
In December last year, Hoefdraad was sentenced to 12 years in prison on corruption charges and fined SRD500 000.
The government had charged Hoefdraad as part of a criminal conspiracy to defraud the central bank while serving as finance minister. According to the Interpol notice seeking his arrest, Hoefdraad faced charges of “participation in a criminal organization,” breaking the anti-corruption act, embezzlement, and “aggravated embezzlement”.
Hoefdraad, who was sentenced in absentia, served as CBvS governor between 2010 and 2015 before becoming minister of finance for president Desi Bouterse, who held office between 2010 and 2020.
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