WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao has been identified as a receiving and settlement hub for criminal money flows within an international underground banking and money laundering network. This emerges from recent verdicts issued by the Court of Overijssel, which last week sentenced several suspects to lengthy prison terms for large-scale money laundering and participation in a criminal organization.
According to the court, the network operated through a system in which large amounts of cash were collected in the Netherlands and then settled or paid out in other countries outside the regular banking system. Curaçao was explicitly mentioned as one of the destinations where funds were either transferred or made available.
Intercepted communications referenced specific sums that had to be sent “to Curaçao” or had already been paid out on the island. These transactions involved conversions into Antillean guilders and payments to third parties based in Curaçao.
The judges did not describe Curaçao as the organizational center of the criminal network, but rather as a destination and settlement location within a broader international structure. The core of the organization was based in the Netherlands and China, where coordination took place via encrypted communication services and where control over the money flows was exercised.
Within this construction, Curaçao functioned as a place where cash became available to clients or where outstanding balances were settled. The verdicts explicitly state that there are no indications of involvement by Curaçao authorities, banks or other institutions. On the contrary, the transactions were deliberately conducted outside the formal financial system, relying on cash handling and trust-based arrangements.
The cases do, however, illustrate how Curaçao, as a small open economy connected to international trade and migration flows, can be vulnerable to exploitation by cross-border criminal networks.
The court emphasized that the activities involved long-term and systematic money laundering practices, with total amounts reaching tens of millions of euros and other currencies. According to prosecutors, the convictions underline the importance of international cooperation in combating financial and economic crime, particularly when illicit money flows cross multiple countries and legal jurisdictions.