An artist design of what the Harbour Point Village would have looked like. (Photo courtesy Facebook page of Luis Goia)
PHILIPSBURG--Theo Heyliger is facing having to pay potential compensation in the millions after an interim verdict from the Court of First Instance on Tuesday, which confirmed a 2023 ruling that held the former infrastructure minister liable for sabotaging a large real estate company’s development of a shopping and entertainment centre at the cruise port more than a decade ago.
This ruling is the latest development in the US $92 million civil lawsuit filed by Zebec Development NV and its owners Luis and Angel Gioia, who claim Heyliger used his political influence to shut down the project after they refused to pay him a portion of their projected rental income.
In 2010, Zebec signed a deal with St. Maarten Harbor Cruise Facilities NV to build the so-called Dutch Village, consisting of 16 retail outlets, on a 13,000-square-metre plot of leased land between the two cruise piers.
The land was transferred in March 2012, but the Gioia brothers claim everything came to a halt shortly after they turned down Heyliger’s request.
Port authorities thwarted Zebec’s efforts to begin construction, Luis told the court in a previous hearing, adding that Mark Mingo, then-chief executive officer of the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies, had later sent them a letter cancelling the project because “it didn’t start on time.”
Zebec’s deal with the port required the formal approval of St. Maarten Quarter Development Company NV, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. This permission ultimately did not come, an act that Zebec’s legal team attributed to Heyliger’s interference.
Ocean Drive Properties NV soon replaced Zebec as the facility’s developer. According to Zebec, Heyliger wanted this company to take over the project because owners Deepak “Danny” Ramchandani and Prem “Peter” Mirpuri had been allowing Heyliger to collect some of their rental income for years at that point.
Heyliger denied these allegations in the 2023 hearings, arguing that he did not hold any position at the port and had no interest in stopping the planned Dutch Village.
Heyliger told the court that he believed the case had already been settled, as a compensatory sum of $10 million has already been paid to Zebec by the companies involved.
The court ultimately found Heyliger liable in an interim verdict in October 2023, which described the former politician as the “lord and master” of the port who “sabotaged” Zebec with the help of Ramchandani, Mirpuri and their company Ocean Drive.
However, the court did not attach a price tag to this preliminary verdict, ruling that Heyliger had not been provided enough opportunity to refute Zebec’s claims. The court therefore decided to allow Heyliger’s legal team to call more witnesses, whose testimony would be used to render a final verdict to determine whether Heyliger could still be held liable and, if so, how much he would have to pay.
Despite several reminders, Heyliger’s lawyer failed to provide the court with the names and addresses of witnesses, it emerged in Tuesday’s interim verdict. The legal team’s silence forced the judge to rule in February that the currently-incarcerated Heyliger no longer wanted to contest Zebec’s lawsuit.
This ruling means that Heyliger’s liability has now become final, and the Court of First Instance will decide how much he will have to pay when the case concludes at a later date. The bill may well be in the millions, given Zebec’s demand for $92 million from the five defendants.
The case continues with the defence of Ramchandani, Mirpuri and Ocean Drive, who now have the opportunity to submit counter-evidence. The next hearing is scheduled for June 24.
Even if the Court of First Instance orders Heyliger to pay a sum of seven or eight figures, he has the right to appeal, and this would send the long-running case before the Joint Court of Justice.
Heyliger is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for accepting bribes and money-laundering. These charges were unrelated to Zebec’s Dutch Village project.
