WILLEMSTAD – The death of Hushang Ansary, the central figure in the Ennia insurance scandal, has renewed attention on a long-running question: what is the status of the criminal case and will those allegedly responsible for criminal offenses still face prosecution?
Although Ansary, who was born in Iran and later became a U.S. citizen, passed away earlier this month at the age of 98, the criminal dimension of the Ennia affair has not been closed. On the contrary, the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS) has formally taken steps to push the Public Prosecutor’s Office to proceed with criminal charges.
According to information confirmed by both the CBCS and the Office of the Procurator General, the central bank has initiated a so-called Article 15 procedure. This legal mechanism allows an interested party to ask the court to review a decision not to prosecute and, if warranted, order the Public Prosecutor to bring charges.
The CBCS filed its original criminal complaint in the Ennia case in June 2018. That was followed by a supplementary complaint in August 2019. Nearly eight years later, no criminal prosecution has yet been initiated, despite extensive civil proceedings and judicial findings on mismanagement within the Ennia group.
A spokesperson for the CBCS confirmed that the central bank formally submitted an Article 15 complaint on July 9, 2025. Through this filing, the CBCS challenged the fact that the criminal investigation conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office has not resulted in prosecution of individuals deemed responsible for potential criminal offenses related to Ennia.
The CBCS has asked the Joint Court of Justice to order the Public Prosecutor’s Office to proceed with prosecution. The complaint is currently under review, and a hearing on the matter is expected to take place in the near future. A ruling by the court is still pending.
The move underscores growing institutional frustration over the prolonged absence of criminal accountability in one of the largest financial scandals in the history of Curaçao and Sint Maarten. While civil judgments have already established severe wrongdoing and led to massive financial consequences, the criminal track has lagged far behind.
With the Article 15 procedure now before the court, the coming months may prove decisive in determining whether the Ennia affair will still lead to criminal prosecutions, even after the death of its most prominent figure.