Dutch St. Maarten's police official gets 4 years of imprisonment for corruption

A top police official in Dutch St. Maarten got four years for public corruption in the Caribbean territory.

Photo: Dutch St. Maarten's police official gets 4 years of imprisonment for corruption

Police Commissioner Marcel Loor was convicted of taking bribes to provide fraudulent entry documents to at least 10 foreign workers between 2004 and 2007.

The court also ordered Loor, who was suspended from his post following his arrest in June, to pay a fine of US$330,000 (225,000 EUR) and restitution of $110,000 (75,000 EUR).

He was also convicted of defrauding the Coast Guard of the Netherlands Antilles by falsely collecting rental allowance on a building he owned and of tax evasion.

Loor has denied wrongdoing. At a hearing Thursday, the former official flashed a victory sign outside the courthouse but his lawyer has not yet said whether he will appeal.

Loor was one of five law enforcement commissioners in the tiny Dutch Caribbean territory, which shares an island with St. Martin, an overseas department of France.