PHILIPSBURG--The woman who was detained with four men while trying to board an InselAir Flight on Tuesday says she was arrested wrongfully and falsely linked to the robbery of money, gold and jewellery from the home of the owner of Son Latino bar, restaurant and nightclub.
The woman, Maria Isabel, told The Daily Herald she and another person had been released the day after being arrested, following interrogation by police about the source of the funds she had in her possession.
Prosecutor Karola van Nie confirmed on Friday that two of the five persons arrested at Princess Juliana International Airport SXM on Tuesday had been released.
Isabel explained that she had been preparing to board her InselAir flight to the Dominican Republic when the person who had been checking passengers’ luggage asked her how much money she had on her. When she told the person she had US $5,000 in her possession, she was told to stand on the side. She said the person had requested that she show him the money, which she did. It was confiscated and she was told to wait while the bags of other passengers were checked.
Isabel said that after waiting for some four hours she had been was taken to an office, arrested and taken to the Philipsburg police station where she had been interrogated about the source of her funds.
She said the money belonged to her boss, Winning Circle and Colombo Lottery Managing Director Dianza Santos. She said her boss had given her the money to take to her relatives in the Dominican Republic. She also was travelling to see a doctor to check out why she was having constant headaches. Isabel said she had not been scared when she was arrested, because she knew she had done nothing wrong.
Isabel said her boss had visited the police station when she learnt of Isabel’s arrest and had provided proof of where the funds had come from. The police kept the money they had confiscated from her and her mobile phone, but gave her back all of her other belongings before releasing her on Wednesday. Isabel was told the investigation into the source of the funds was continuing.
Isabel said she had been wrongfully arrested and accused of being involved in the robbery and she wanted to clear her name. “I come from a good family and my family did not teach me to do these things,” she told this newspaper. She said she did not even know the four other persons who were arrested and knew nothing about the robbery that occurred.
Isabel said she had been working as a secretary at Winning Circle for the past seven months. She is hoping her ticket will be repurchased so that she can proceed to travel to the Dominican Republic as she originally had intended, as she missed her flight due to no fault of her own.
Her boss said InselAir was expected to provide a ticket.
