MP De Weever: “Our tax system is a bit absurd” South-American scammers fooled American journalist with bogus information about Natalee Holloway

ORANJESTAD -- Almost seventeen years ago, on May 30, 2005, Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway disappeared without a trace during a stay on Aruba. Her body was never found and the authorities have never been able to pin her disappearance and most likely murder on their prime suspect, Joran van der Sloot, who is currently serving a very long prison sentence in Peru for the murder of student Stephany Flores Ramirez in 2010, in Lima.

the possession of “important information” that could solve Holloway’s disappearance. The now 67-year old Van Susteren is a lawyer but also news anchor for NewsMax in the United States. Previously she appeared on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. In 2016, Forbes named her the 94th most powerful woman in the world. It is noteworthy that Van Susteren is also a Scientologist. Wealthygorilla.com reported her net worth per February 2023 to be around $35 million.

sender these items belonged to Natalee. But a forensic investigation by the FBI showed that the DNA found on these items did not match Natalee’s DNA. It did not match Joran van der Sloot’ DNA either. One shoe in the box turned out to be a counterfeit product that was probably manufactured in 2019.

PHILIPSBURG -- “We need to stop talking about tax reform and start reform,” independent MP Ludmila de Weever said in a meeting of parliament with Finance Minister Ardwell Irion. We need reform that empowers our country and most importantly our people, the MP said.

De Weever pointed out that in 2010 the profit tax in both St. Maarten and Curacao was 34.5 percent. In the meantime, Curacao has lowered this tax to 22 percent. “In St. Maarten it has stayed on the same level.”

‘Out tax system is a little bit absurd,” MP de Weever continued. “The minister has done a lot of work to promote SME’s (small and medium sized enterprises) but our tax system makes it really difficult for them to thrive. They have to pay 5 percent turnover tax every month and at the end of the year 34.5 percent profit tax. That makes it really uninviting to invest here.”

She added that entrepreneurs get the advice from their accountants and financial advisors not to disclose all of their profits because of the high level of profit tax.

“We are now in 2023. Why has it taken so long to change anything? Those who do pay taxes do not see a return on their payments because we have crappy roads and they complain about our education system. Our tax system needs to be revamped, it is already twelve years late. What we should not do is make life harder for our citizens by imposing more taxes.”

During a radio-interview with Lady Grace in the Breakfast show, MP De Weever criticized initiatives to expropriate Mullet Bay.

“Tell me how expropriating Mullet Bay will improve people’s lives,” she said. “What we need to focus on is: how am I going to let my people earn more money through tax reform that is already thirteen years late. All we are doing is making our people poor and that is not going to help.”

De Weever threw out a random number associated with the appropriation of Mullet Bay. “That is going to cost, say, $200 million, but after that your people are still suffering and not earning enough. Focus instead on what is making their lives better, focus on improving the education system, focus on getting school back up and running and focus on getting kids back in school because for the last year some of them have been without a school. What are you doing to empower our people so that they have a future? Nada. You are keeping them in a position to suit your purposes of enriching yourself in a government position.”

But Holloway made headlines again this week after the Aruban public prosecutor’s office issued a statement about a revival of the investigation into her disappearance. Unfortunately, the conclusion was that the new information that triggered the investigation was based on fraud. The authorities still have not closed the investigation. “If we get tips that could bring clarity in this case, they will be investigated by the judicial authorities in Aruba,” a statement from the prosecutor’s office read. Those authorities include “the police force of Aruba, other investigating organizations and the public prosecutor’s office.”

The tips that triggered the latest investigation are based on information from the American journalist Greta van Susteren. She posted on social media that she was in

Based on Van Susteren’s information, the detective cooperation team (RST) started an investigation in June 2022 under the supervision of the prosecutor’s office and in cooperation with the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI.

This investigation focused on the question whether Van Susteren’s information was so concrete and accurate that it could lead to a solution. “Unfortunately this information has not been able to contribute to solving the disappearance of Natalee.”

The press release from the prosecutor’s office reveals that Van Susteren was taken for a ride by people from South America who fooled her through fraud and manipulation with false information in exchange for payment.

Van Susteren received a package through the mail from Colombia that contained shoes and clothing. According to the

Van Susteren also received several photographs and videos. Research showed that they were all manipulated forgeries. Researchers found that pictures of suspects in the disappearance of Holloway stemmed from a public Facebook-page. One picture that showed human bones that belonged, according to the sender, to Natalee Holloway, appeared to be taken from a public internet-page. Another picture was cut from a newspaper article about a garbage dump in Costa Rica. Research furthermore showed that independent sources telling the same story simply did not exist. All the persons who approached Van Susteren were connected to each other. The prosecutor’s office informed Van Susteren about the results of the investigation, but the American journalist was not interested. “She indicated twice that she did not want to receive an elaborate personal presentation from the researchers.” The prosecutor’s office therefore informed her by mail. Natalee Holloway’s parents were also informed.