WILLEMSTAD - The court in Curaçao heard a case in which a 43-year-old woman is suspected of embezzling 33,000 guilders from her employer Delifrance. She has been sentenced to 3 months in prison with a 2-year probation period.
However, Delifrance's management suspects that she has stolen 270,000 guilders. But the Public Prosecution Service has so far only been able to prove the embezzlement of 33 thousand. There appears to be another employee who is also guilty of theft, but allegedly fled to Colombia.
Allegations say that between May 1, 2013 and November 30, 2014, the woman used her position as a manager to commit fraud. As a manager, she was responsible for bringing the daily earnings to the bank. But some days she did not take the money to the bank and other days she deposited only part of the money and kept the rest for herself.
During the trial, the suspect confessed to stealing money and said it was because there are many problems in her family. It is estimated that she has stolen 33,000 guilders. She said she was willing to pay back and has already started doing so. So far she has paid three thousand guilders.
The management says that according to the bank details the amount stolen would be much higher than 33 thousand guilders, namely 270 thousand. The public prosecutor said during his requisitoir that it is difficult to prove that the suspect has embezzled 270 thousand guilders, since the other employee has disappeared to Colombia.
Because the officer considers it proven that the woman has stolen 33 thousand guilders, he requests 3 months probation with a probationary period of two years. And on top of that a year of suspended sentence. During that period, she must have paid back the rest of the money.
The public prosecutor wants the “compensation measure” to be applied, which means that the suspect will spend one day in prison for every 350 guilders she has stolen. If she has not repaid the agreed amount within a year, she must sit for three months. In case she does not pay anything at all, she has to sit for six months. The judge has decided in accordance with the prosecutor's demand.