This week, Aruba witnessed a case against Benny Sevinger and ten other suspects. This case is one of the more serious ones in Aruba’s history, as it concerns serious corruption allegations. According to Aruba’s Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes:
The official accused are:
1. Bribery: paying off officials
2. Fraud
3. Forgery
4. Abusing of function
Sevinger is accused of forgery, fraud, and abusing his position in power. Additionally, he is also accused of taking on gifts and promises as well as laundering money. With all of this, Benny Sevinger as well as the ten others did not put only themselves at risk but risked thousands of families and young adults who will now never be able to obtain their homes. There are ongoing efforts to remove the land that was falsely given to many people, but it is a lengthy process.
It is crucial that we all pay attention to this case.
As for the false property grants, since former minister Marisol Lopez-Tromp retired in October of 2020, Wever-Croes delegated the authority for the department in question to a stricter system of checks and balances to make sure that any future corruption is avoided. That was the first step.
“Now I appeal to the entire community. Aruba needs us all. Public employees, especially when they see something like this occur, must come forward and expose the corruption. Business owners who are asked to pay under the table, must refuse and expose this corruption. Together we can stop this corruption. Aruba needs us all to accomplish this”. Declared Evelyn Wever-Croes.
