Aruba: New Casino Permits Required to Combat Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism

Casinos in Aruba must apply for new permits and conform with the new regulations as of September 1, 2008 or risk losing their permits to operate.  The purpose of the new regulations is to promote policies to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.  Financing terrorism? Is there something we need to know?

It is too bad that Justice Minister Rudy Croes could not simply enforce the age limits of those allowed in Aruban casinos. If he had and Aruban casinos followed their own laws, Natalee Holloway would still be alive today as she and the Mountain Brook teens would never have Joran Van der Sloot.

ORANJESTAD – All casinos are at risk of losing their permits if they do not conform to the new policy regulations within one month. This is one of the new measures taken by the Ministry of Justice. The gambling lots are obliged to apply for a permit as the old agreements will be void as of the 1st of September.

Had the Excelsior prohibited an under age Joran Van der Sloot from the casino, Natalee Holloway would still be alive as he would have never met the Mountain Brook teens and never would have gone to Carlos n’ Charlies. Joran had stated that no one went there on a Sunday as it was a slow night.

The Minister of Justice, Rudy Croes, announced that the new regulations are based on recommendations of the inter-governmental organization Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This international organization is responsible for the development and promotion of the policy to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The regulations are ahead of a new law, which is currently being laid down, and were created through the collaboration between government experts and the Casino world (DAC).

As of now the casinos have to give insight into the administration and their internal control. The Minister furthermore states that only the casinos which have complied with all the stipulated conditions will be eligible for a new gambling permit. These conditions stipulate amongst others, that a casino business should have the legal form ‘NV’, that the casino should have sufficient funds to guarantee payment of winners and that the casino should possess a local bank guarantee of 500.000 dollars.

The Netherlands Worried about Corruption in Aruba … What Took Them So Long To Figure This One?

Say it isn’t so. The Netherlands is worried about corruption in Aruba. The hell you say? Corruption is Aruba … NEVER!!! Nepotism and cronyism in Aruba … REALLY??? Because its not like there wasn’t any corruption that took place during the disappearance and investigation of Natalee Holloway.

Hirsch Ballin responds that the Aruban Public Prosecution has taken various such cases of corruption to court whereby a few resulted in a conviction. “During talks with, amongst others, the Prime Minister of Aruba, I have expressed my concern and have spoken about improvements in the system, which can prevent corruption.”

Brinkman asked whether the Dutch Minister was aware of ‘the serious allegations of examples of corruption, such as confusion of interests, lobbying for political reasons and nepotism in Aruba”

The Netherlands worried about corruption Aruba (Amigoe: July 25, 2008)

ORANJESTAD/ THE HAGUE – The Dutch Minister of Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin (CDA) has expressed his concern about government corruption during talks with Prime Minister Nelson Oduber (MEP). This is evident from his answer to Chamber questions which PVV Member of Parliament Hero Brinkman asked the Minister and the Secretary of State Ank Bijleveld-Schouten (CDA) on the 26th of June.

The questions are about the political climate on Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles as a result of the interview in the Volkskrant newspaper with former deputy Attorney General (PG) Nico Jörg, who described the climate as being ‘dismal’. Brinkman asked whether the Dutch Minister was aware of ‘the serious allegations of examples of corruption, such as confusion of interests, lobbying for political reasons and nepotism in Aruba” and what the Minister has subsequently done with this information.

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Natalee Holloway: Remember When the Media Had Announced that Suspect who Took Natalee, Killed her.

So why did the media report that the Aruban police said that the suspect(s) who took Natalee Holloway admitted to killing her if that did not actually take place? After 3+ years the excuse cannot be that it was a translation problem.

Did one, two or all three of the suspects admit to killing Natalee Holloway?

Dr. Phil Attorneys Use Scared Monkeys Natalee Holloway Posts as Exhibit in Court Docs Against Deepak & Satish Kalpoes

Scared Monkeys makes the list of exhibits for the defense in the case of Deepak & Satish Kalpoe v. Dr. Phil. Scared Monkeys has been on this case from the beginning, long before and certainly long after most of the media coverage.

A recent court document was filed on July 7, 2008 with the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles – Central District by the attorneys of Dr. Phil McGraw, CBS Television and the Estate of Jamie Skeeters as a special motion to strike compliant pursuant to California code of Civil procedure § 425.16 against the claims of Deepak and Satish Kalpoe.

(Read the full post HERE that was used as an exhibit)

Scared Monkeys has attained a copy of the filing and to our surprise a Scared Monkeys post was used as an exhibit for the defense. The post by Scared Monkeys actually makes up pages 55 – 123. The post and what is Exhibit A-51 was written on February 16, 2008 entitled, “Scared Monkey’s Welcomes Bill O’Reilly & Geraldo Rivera to the Fold as they Finally Embrace the Aruba Boycott and Date Rape in Natalee Holloway Disappearance”. The full article can be read HERE. Not only was the post used, but comments as well.

As many have stated since the Kalpoe’s filed their defamation law suit, how can one have their character impugned if there was no character or reputation in the first place? From the outset of the Natalee Holloway disappearance and the case against the three main suspects, Joran Van der Sloot, Deepak Kalpoe and Satish Kalpoe … the media in print, TV, radio and internet have done stories based upon the actions and words of these three suspects. The Kalpoe’s were arrested by the ALE. They brought that upon themsleves. It was the 3 suspects who lied to the police and stated they returned Natalee Holloway to the Holiday Inn the night they drove off with her from Carlos ‘n Charlie’s. It was the suspects who lied about the two black security guards and implicated them in a crime where they were arrested. It was the three suspects who continually changed their stories and statements to the police and investigators.

What did the Kalpoe’s Know and why did they Lie?

The Kalpoe’s claim to be victims; however, they brought all of what happened following Natalee Holloway’s disappearance on themselves. They have no one to blame but themselves and their lies. Its nothing more than a get quick rich scheme for people who only made $950.00 US a month (response from Interrogatory) to cash in for millions at the expense of missing Natalee Holloway.

Scared Monkeys has been on the story from the beginning and its good to see that we are continuing to help in the case and issues that have come about from the case of missing Natalee Holloway. It would also seem that Dr. Phil owes us a thank you as well.  This is about “Justice for Natalee” … not $’s for the Kalpoe’s.

MEP: 2008 Successful Tourism year in Aruba …. Denial, Its Not just a River in Egypt

Who knew that “D’Nile” was not only a river in Egypt, but existed in Aruba as well.

What ever happened to truth in advertizing? The following Arubam tourism piece is a cross between “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” and Baghdad Bob telling the world that the US military was not at the gates of Baghdad.

Baghdad Bob (Former Iraqi mouth piece)

Notice the resemblance?

Nelson Oduber: Current Aruban PM and mouthpiece

Aruba is going to have another successful year in 2008. Another? Doesn’t that presume that they had earlier successes? Talk about a desperate attempt to pat one’s self on the back. Is it election time already in Aruba where the Oduber government feels the need to inflate the truth about tourism? Also, it was not too long ago where there were news articles condemning the Minister of tourism and MEP for their handling of Aruban tourism and the Natalee Holloway case … HERE, HERE and HERE.

Thanks to Briesen, the tourism on the island increased from 691.000 tourists in 2001 to 754.000 in 2007.

This is thanks to the dynamic policy of the Oduber-cabinet and the huge efforts of Minister Edison Briesen of Tourism and Transport.

First, who knows whether the numbers are actually accurate and factual. Second, Aruba is touting head counts as a victory and a successful year? Talk about spin. Any one who knows anything about numbers knows they can be changed to show anything in a positive manner. Let’s take the pathetic attempt above to show Aruban tourism is a positive light.

• Spin cycle #1: Aruba uses initial tourism numbers from 2001 as their starting point. Question, what event happened in 2001 that greatly affected all travel and visits abroad? Answer: September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in NYC, the Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93 when brave and heroic passengers took down the plane in a field in Pennsylvania preventing more carnage. Tourism to a severe hit in 2001 in the Caribbean for obvious reasons in the aftermath of 911. Aruba has held safety and tourism conferences on the impacts of tourism in a post 9–11 world. So we know that Aruba is staring from a baseline tourism number that is lower than normal.

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