Businessman and former Member of Parliament Silvio Matser was held and questioned on January 25, 2013, in connection with what was dubbed the first criminal tax investigation by St. Maarten authorities. (File photo)
PHILIPSBURG--Businessman and former Member of Parliament Silvio Matser and his now defunct company Energizer NV were irrevocably convicted of tax evasion by the High Court of the Netherlands on Tuesday, January 7.
For these crimes, committed between January 2006 and October 2010, Matser was sentenced by the Joint Court of Justice 22 months, 18 of which were suspended, on three years’ probation, in January 2017.
He also had to pay a fine of NAf. 150,000 or spend one year in prison, in case of non-compliance. Energizer was sentenced to a fine of NAf. 3,495,300.
Matser and his company had filed for a final appeal, or “cassation,” against the sentence, which was rejected by the highest court in the Kingdom of the Netherlands on Tuesday.
The High Court rejected all of Matser’s objections against the Appeals Court judgment, which had found him guilty of tax evasion in having filed incorrect tax-returns forms for the payment of wage taxes, and failure to pay Turnover Tax.
Matser and his company received reduction on their sentences for undue delay in the handling of their cassation cases, which is in contravention of the European Human Rights Treaty.
Considering this, the High Court sentenced Matser to a prison sentence of 21 months and two weeks, 18 of which were suspended, on three years’ probation. The fine for Energizer was lowered to NAf. 3,490,300.
Matser was held and questioned on January 25, 2013, in connection with what was dubbed the first criminal tax investigation by St. Maarten authorities. The initial case at the Court of First Instance was heard in December 2014, during which Matser denied the charges.
Matser and his company Energizer, which was registered at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of St. Maarten on October 26, 2004, had filed for appeal against their convictions by the Court of First Instance on January 7, 2015.
Five years ago, the Court sentenced Matser to 24 months, 18 of which were suspended, on three years’ probation, and 240 hours of community service. Energizer was sentenced to pay NAf. 4.5 million in back taxes.
Two years later, the Joint Court said it held it against the businessman that he had put his “large personal financial gain above the general interest of a correct imposition of taxes for the benefit of the country and society.”
The Court of Appeals found Matser as construction company Energizer’s sole director and shareholder responsible for structurally giving orders to file incorrect wage-tax declarations for a number of years. The Court calculated that at least NAf. 1,684,950 in wage tax had not been reported.
It was also taken into account that Matser and his company had ordered not to file for business Turnover Tax to the estimated amount of NAf. 8,451,960. “There is no doubt that Country St. Maarten has encountered a (major) drawback,” the Joint Court said at the time.
