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Suriname - Corruption

President Desire Bouterse and Member of Parliament Ronnie Brunswijk have been convicted of drug trafficking in absentia in separate court cases in the Netherlands and France. Dino Bouterse, son of President Desire Bouterse, was sentenced in March 2015 to 16 years in prison for drug smuggling and other crimes.

Suriname is a transit zone for cocaine en route to Europe, Africa, and to a lesser extent the U.S. There have been sporadic instances of narcotics-related violence between individuals associated with competing drug trafficking organizations. These have included assassinations and drive-by shootings.

Suriname has a significant corruption problem. Although the existing legal code penalizes corruption, there is virtually no enforcement. Government officials are occasionally accused of corruption and removed from their current assignment, but none have been convicted for at least the last six years. Existing laws that deal with corruption do not provide whistle blower protections, and do not extend to family members of officials or to political parties. The government does not encourage or require private companies to establish internal codes of conduct.

Suriname is a transit zone for South American cocaine en route to Europe, Africa, and, to a lesser extent, the United States. The 2016 introduction of direct flights between the United States and Suriname could create additional opportunities for drug trafficking. Suriname’s sparsely populated coastal region and isolated jungle interior, together with weak border controls and infrastructure, make narcotics detection and interdiction efforts difficult. There is little evidence of drug production in Suriname.

The Government of Suriname is officially opposed to narcotics trafficking, but little political will has been demonstrated to pursue vigorous enforcement. Corruption pervades many government offices in Suriname and may also play a role. Local criminal investigations of allegedly corrupt acts are rare and local prosecutions even rarer.

Money laundering in Suriname is closely linked to transnational criminal activity related to the transshipment of cocaine, primarily to Europe and Africa. According to local media reports, both domestic and international drug trafficking organizations are believed to control most of the laundered proceeds, which are primarily invested locally in casinos, real estate, foreign exchange companies, car dealerships, and the construction sector. Public corruption also may contribute to money laundering, though the full extent of its influence is unknown. Profits from small-scale gold mining and related industries fuel a thriving informal sector. Much of the money within this sector does not pass through the formal banking system. In Suriname’s undeveloped interior, bartering with gold is the norm for financial transactions.

More than a dozen U.S. citizens were on the tarmac, decked out in business suits, ready to board a private plane just outside New Orleans and head out of the country. Inside their bags were a large cache of weapons and ammunition, thousands of dollars in cash, and a how-to manual called “Ambush and Counter Ambush.” They were on their way to Suriname to take over the country.

The date was July 28, 1986. It would be another 15 months before Wall Street movie character Gordon Gekko would deliver his infamous line, “Greed is good.” But this band of criminals had already taken that message to heart in their own twisted way. The ringleader of the group — one Tommy Lynn Denley, aka “Tango” — had cooked up an illegal plan to make them all instant millionaires. Earlier, a Netherlands café owner named George Baker — originally from Suriname — had supposedly agreed to pay Denley some $300 million to overthrow the country. Denley had promised to pay his hired guns a million dollars a piece for their help.

Posing as a banker, Denley asked the government of Suriname to set up a secret off-shore bank account in return for a small commission. Denley then arranged for a meeting with Suriname President Desi Bouterse in late July to seal the deal. During the meeting, Denley planned to take Bouterse prisoner by force, and then have him call in other top government leaders, who would also be taken hostage. Then, high-ranking members of the Suriname military would call for a military coup to complete the overthrow of the government.

In June and July of 1986, the FBI and Customs learned of the plot through separate sources. Working in tandem, investigators contacted Denley and his associates, masquerading as investors and fellow mercenaries willing to help. Denley laid out his plan in a series of meetings with his “team” (including the undercover agents) in the days leading up to July 28. That morning, FBI and Customs agents arrested the 13 criminals at the airport. Another conspirator was arrested the next day. Denley and three others pled guilty to violating the Neutrality Act, which bans the attempted overthrow of foreign nations. The rest pled guilty to lesser charges. Most got jail time. Case closed, and a potentially serious international crime prevented.

In December 2011, President Bouterse granted a pardon to his foster son Romano Meriba who in 2005 was convicted to 15 years imprisonment of murder and robbery of a Chinese trader in 2002. Meriba was also convicted for throwing a hand grenade at the house of the Dutch ambassador. Meriba was also arrested on March 23, 2012 in Paramaribo because he was accused of assaulting and beating up a citizen and police officer the night before in a nightclub.

DINO BOUTERSE, who is the son of the President of Suriname and reportedly served previously as the head of Suriname’s Counter-Terrorism Unit, pled guilty August 29, 2014 in Manhattan federal court in connection with his attempt to provide material support and resources to Hezbollah, a designated terrorist organization, along with narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses. BOUTERSE, who was arrested in Panama on August 29, 2013, and arrived in the United States on August 30, 2013, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Today, a supporter of terrorism, who was in a position of national power in Suriname and presented himself as an opponent of terrorism, has pled guilty. In addition to conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, Dino Bouterse has acknowledged that he attempted to provide material support to Hezbollah. Now he faces, at a minimum, 15 years in prison.”

According to the Indictment, other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made at the guilty plea in 2013, BOUTERSE used his position to assist individuals he believed were members of Hezbollah who intended to conduct terrorist attacks against American interests. In exchange for a multimillion-dollar pay-off, BOUTERSE agreed to allow large numbers of purported Hezbollah operatives to use Suriname as a permanent base for, among other things, attacks on American targets. In furtherance of his efforts to assist Hezbollah, BOUTERSE supplied a false Surinamese passport to a purported Hezbollah operative, who in actuality was an undercover law enforcement officer, for the purpose of clandestine travel, including travel to the United States, began determining which heavy weapons he could provide to Hezbollah, and indicated how Hezbollah operatives, supplied with a Surinamese cover story, could enter the United States.

BOUTERSE discussed initially hosting 30 to 60 Hezbollah members in Suriname for training and operations. He also indicated that he wanted a Hezbollah cell in Suriname, in part, to act as a personal armed force. BOUTERSE confirmed his understanding that the purported Hezbollah operatives would operate in South America against American targets, and he agreed to supply Surinamese passports to the operatives—and to assist with their applications for visas to travel from South America into the United States. In addition, in response to a request for surface-to-air missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, BOUTERSE stated that he would need “two months” and that he would provide a list of what he could supply.

Allegations of corruption grew more prevalent as the economy deteriorated throughout 2016. Allegations included government contracting to political party insiders and supporters. There continued to be questions regarding the transparency of government decisions to issue mineral and timber concession rights. There was a continuing widespread perception that officials used public power for private gain.

Civil society, media, and other nongovernmental parties particularly scrutinized and criticized the Ministries of Natural Resources, Public Works, Social Affairs, Justice and Police, Education, and Physical Planning, alleging widespread corruption and favoritism.

The Attorney General’s Office showed a willingness to investigate claims of corruption throughout 2016. In August 2015 the office launched a criminal investigation of officials of Energie Bedrijven Suriname (EBS), the state-owned electricity company, based on a report by the Central Government Accounting Office which identified numerous financial irregularities including payments for nondelivered goods and unauthorized contracting. Three persons were under investigation in this case. In August 2016 authorities announced the prosecution of one of the suspects.

In October 2016 the minister of justice and police reported that the bribery and arson investigations at the Alien Affairs Department, which began in September 2015, were unlikely to result in criminal charges. Initially the investigation targeted bribes allegedly taken for issuance of residency permits. Then, days after the minister dismissed all suspected staffers, an arsonist burned down the building housing the Alien Affairs Department, which was conducting the investigation.