WILLEMSTAD - The Curaçao notary Johnny Kleinmoedig must not only immediately serve the prison sentence imposed on him but can also look forward to a claim from the Public Prosecution Service for the more than 1.4 million guilders that he embezzled.
Kleinmoedig (59) looted between 2009 and 2019 the so-called third-party account that notaries keep to park their clients' money. In that period, he appropriated a total of more than 1.4 million. He did it in a devious way. For example, he transferred 1 million to his mother's bank account, who then transferred the amount in smaller portions to Kleinmoedig's private account. He bought a lot with it on which he had a house built. He also purchased a car worth 76,000 guilders plus a piano worth 156,000 guilders. “I have lived off it,” the suspect explained why he does not repay the money to the rightful claimants.
Kleinmoedig declared he thought it belonged to him “because it no longer had a destination”. The Public Prosecution Service called it embezzlement and also charged him with laundering criminally obtained money. The demand was 18 months in prison, 6 of which were conditional and a ban to exercise the office of notary for 5 years. Kleinmoedig's counsel asked for acquittal because the prosecution had "deeply shocked" her client.
The court imposed 18 months unconditional and ordered, because of the risk of flight, the immediate detention of Kleinmoedig, who was also removed from office for 5 years. The Public Prosecution Service has announced that it will start confiscation proceedings.