No signs yet of Suriname’s ex-Finance Minister

As Guyana authorities remain mum, Suriname is still seeking its former Finance Minister, Gillmore Hoefdraad, for questioning into alleged irregularities at that country’s Central Bank.
Yesterday, reports from Suriname said that Hoefsdraad’s lawyer has written to the country’s National Assembly requesting that the matter not be brought again unless there are new developments in the case.

The country’s prosecutors have been searching for the former Finance Minister who is being investigated for alleged crimes against that country’s Central Bank.
Hoefdraad, the Finance Minister under the recently ousted government of Desi Bouterse, is believed to have crossed into Guyana, sources told Kaieteur News.

However, police officials and other sources could not independently confirm and messages to Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, were not answered.
According to Suriname daily newspaper, De Ware Tijd, Hoefdraad, earlier this week, has been identified as a suspect in the criminal investigation into malpractices allegedly committed at the Central Bank of Suriname (CBS) by the then governor Robert van Trikt. The Public Prosecution Service wants to hear from the former minister in the ongoing investigation.

At the beginning of this week, the Attorney General, Roy Baidjnath-Panday, sent a motion to Parliament for Hoefdraad to be charged. An earlier attempt in May was struck down when the then coalition, led by Bouterse, voted against granting the claim. Hoefdraad has reportedly been informed by Parliament that a renewed action has been filed against him.

De Ware Tijd reported Monday that bailiffs were unable to serve the former minister summons since he was not found at his address.
Guyana’s border with Suriname has been problematic when it comes to monitoring illegal crossing, whether movement of persons or illicit trade. There have been reported cases of breaches even as Guyana has closed its borders for four months now as part of the national measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19.