March 30, 2007

TYPICAL ARUBAN $TYLE--ACCEPTING BRIBE$




Diamond dealer gives MEP big money for project


ORANJESTAD - In connection with a big project in the harbour of Oranjestad, it now appears that in 2004, diamond dealer H.J. Namdar from New York held out the prospect of two times 500.000 florins to the money box of governing political party MEP.


Effi Nambar's offer was avowed and without any hesitance; he put this in a letter and signed it. In the letter, he promised to deposit 500.000 florins in the election moneybox of MEP (although the party's name is not mentioned in the letter of 2004, the letter still refers to the re-election campaign), and another 500.000 florins after the party is re-elected. This means 1 million guilders for the allocation of the project in the Aruban (cruise) harbour to Namdar.


An investigation team of Diario found the letter of diamond dealer H.J. Namdar from New York and published it on Monday. The letter caused a lot of commotion. AVP will pay close attention to the Public Prosecutor to see whether they will start an investigation. If they don't, we will definitely consider taking the case before the courts and make sure that a penal persecution is pursuit, said AVP-leader, Mike Eman. (Doesn't it seem that Aruba only wants to start any investigation ONLY IF it suits their purpose?)


In the letter, the company starts with introducing herself. H.J. Namdar has five diamond factories; three in the US and two in China. In the letter, H.J. Namdar continues with 'our future plans for the beautification of Aruba' is to establish a two-storey shopping mall with a variety of jeweler's shops near the cruise terminal. Namdar stated that this project is of great value for your government party and if the company can buy the land before September 2004, he guarantees that the completions will be in November of 2005. That would be tactful for the re-election of your party, which is at the same time. The company links these conditions to the offer to deposit all together the amount of 1 million florins in the moneybox of the party.


As the dates in the letter expired and no land was transferred, nor is the shopping mall realized, the question is, has the company actually paid the 1 million florins to MEP? That seems unlikely. The letter was addressed to Michael Williams, former MEP-campaign-leader during the last elections, but before that, he was member of OLA. Because the letter refers to governing party, it can be assumed that the letter was for the MEP.


During the election campaign in 2005, Williams campaigned for OLA though, so the assumption that the money was offered to the MEP is not completely sure. On Monday evening on ATV 15, Williams used the opportunity to bring MEP down and indicated that Prime Minister Nelson Oduber had met with representatives of H.J. Namdar at several occasions. The letter is very naively written and the question is whether it is authentic.


Bribery is very bad in the US and a businessman must know that he will be nailed if such bribery is put on paper. This matter was never discussed in parliament. Not long ago, a Spanish development- and investment group (Alatec, editor) wanted to develop the area together with Aruba Ports Authority. And now suddenly, H.J. Namdar surfaces as partner of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.


The phone number (212) 398-9564 at the bottom of the letter does exist and is being answered by an answering machine, mentioning the name H.J. Namdar at 16 West 46th Street in New York, New York. But up till this morning at 09:00 Aruban time, the message on the answering machine says that the office is still closed.


The Amigoe left a message for Effy Namdar, president of H.J. Namdar Inc, or his spokesperson to get in contact with the editorial staff. This didn't happen before this paper went to press. In connection with the meeting of the cabinet, the government could not be reached this morning and the spokesperson of the government didn't answer the phone.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's some more good stuff.

Anonymous said...

Why are you bashing Aruba over this?? It appears that the letter was likely ignored since you say "(It) seems unlikely that (the 1 million florins was paid)"

Sounds more like a concern about an American business than about the behavior of Aruba.

But when one is bashing, any dog will do.

Anonymous said...

The Aruban's new tie to Iran has got them in real big trouble. The British hostage crisis deepens and the whole EU are hating deeply the Iranians and the Dutch. The Dutch smguglers had been supplying the training and materiels to the Iranian naval outlaws.

Anonymous said...

The Aruban corruptions and lies have poisoned the Dutch Kingdom Netherlands so heavily since last couple years. The Kingdom are misled by the Oduber-Chevez government in undermining the UN and EU and the world peace in a shadow position by coaching the rogue states to buy nuclear weapons via white women trafficking and rape drugs manufacturing.

Anonymous said...

HELP,

Does ANYbody have some new news that ACTUALLY delas with the dissapearence of Natalee, and/or could have even the remotest chance of havinginfo that might help solve this case.
Printing a letter that an American company sent to Aruba, offering bribes, has absolutely NOTHING to do with Natalee, and is only taking away attention from trying to find her.
Actions done last week in Boston, while helpful in keeping Natalee in the news (a very little bit), will not help in finding her.
How about this grassroots movement putting money together to get some divers to Aruba who are willing to search for her? Or the group that went to protest in Boston, send them to Aruba and let them search the Island. I understand that the Island is about 20 or 22 miles long and less then 9 miles wide.
This will help much more, than 99% of the posts and comments on this webiste.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous,

What are YOU doing or have DONE to search for Natalee? Have YOU searched for Natalee?

Hiding something? Why would this article get under your skin?

ANYTHING that Michelle feels will help the boycott she WILL POST IT! I support her 100%.

The Boston protest was awesome. Many many people talked with them and saw their signs. Many many people will never go to Aruba because of them and I'm very thankful for the group that went.

Divers have been to Aruba. Do YOU NOT REMEMBER ARUBA will NOT ALLOW CERTAIN SEARCHES? Hello?? RED FLAG??

How about YOU go search for Natalee because YOU seem to have ALL the answers!!

Anonymous said...

Aruba is corrupt. We are waiting Aruba to SEE what your plans are. WE WILL NOT FORGET!! EVER~

Anony- get a life. What are you doing to search for Natalee?

Your BS doesn't walk!

Michelle Says So 2.0 said...

Thank you! Anon was going to make me CRY... lol

Anonymous said...

Boston is a major city that travels to Aruba. One of Aruba best markets with NY/LI. Getting press there was huge.

Anonymous said...

Michelle can Get er Done~

Anon- you have no clue what you are saying.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, I can't imagine why you use that name. I'm the man who organized the Boston event. It was never intended to solve the case, nor can we who are concerned about Natalee do so.

Aruba's law enforcement are the ones responsible for solving the case. You see, that's why they're called Aruba law enforcement (ALE) ... though maybe a better acronym would be Lawless Inept Enforcers (LIE).

You may not realize that American volunteers HAVE gone to Aruba to search the island. And dig in its landfills. And look in its seas. And another visit is planned in April, last I knew.

Don't think the Arubans have done nothing. They have.

That is, lied from day one. Watched the Americans search (and yes, some made token efforts). Charged for everything they could get, all the while mocking the volunteers and misleading them. Slandering the family. Whining that it was illegal to boycott them.

I could go on, but don't feel like it. The point is, it is Aruba's responsibility to solve the crime. We all know what has happened: nothing. Except for blocking the water search, impeding the FBI, refusing offers by American lawmen such as the National Sheriff's Association.

Are you in a position to encourage Arubans to volunteer? Or to contribute? Or even to speak up against the lies their own government is spewing forth?

Give it a try, OK? We're doing what we can. And going to Aruba is not on the list, because Aruba is on the boycott list.

Anonymous said...

Accepting bribes is the most characteristics of the Dutch culture. The Lockheed scandal in the eighties almost destroyed the Dutch Kingdom, and the old Queen had to abdicate to let her prosmicuous daughter to arise to the throne. The Dutch hadn't learn the lesson, and still extorting bribes from other EU government officails and business executives. The major weapons of the Dutch government are their certified prostitutes and red light district distributions. The Open House Day of the Red Light District last month had drawn many prominant world political leaders into their VIP suites. Besides the Boston advertising gimmick, the Arubans had invited some city officials to the event to help Joran get a green card to America, kind of want to defeat Beth and the LA lawsuits. The Dutch are blackmailed by the Odubar government because they discovered that the Dutch used Aruba's trade free zone to ship the protrol boat high speed marine engines to Iran to arm their coast guards. Odubar accepted the millions dollar bribe from the Dutch and remained silent for that matter.

Anonymous said...

I Have gone to Aruba as a diver and done SEVERAL dives at places to search, together with 2 other US divers and 1 Dutch, and 2 locals. All you need to do is to go to Aruba, rent a boat, find a captain (it's an island, trust me there are enough captains) and go to several spots.
Also, under the name of 'hiking' we searched sveeral parts of Aruba, some where the police has searched, and some where the police hasn't, like the Eastern Point of the island.
Several times we would get Arubans to help us.
All you people talk about just bashing Aruba, but in the meantime you haven't done ANYTHING for Natalee.
Michelle, my post wasn't meant to let you cry, but to get you back into the right state of mind. Check out your own website when it just started out, and compare it with the nonsense that you (let) post nowadays.
As for you Richard, great action, but I have been in Aruba, and you can trust me, your actions had little to no effect. The hotels are very full (although not 100%), and definitively fuller than 2006. So nice try, but no dice. And then to hide behind "And going to Aruba is not on the list, because Aruba is on the boycott list", that is just a lame excuse for "I just want my 5 minutes of fame, but I am not really ready to REALLY DO SOMETHING TO SOLVE THE CRIME". Tell me, do you think BT will be happier of her daughter is found, or if people are going to Boston to do some lame protest (lame, because anybody who wants to travel somewhere is going wether you like it or not). Protests or not, Aruba still gets more than 1 million Tourists each year (Stay-over and cruiseship arrivals), out of which 65% plus are US citizens.
Anyways, I will keep going back, and search anywhere and anywhich way I can. All of this I am paying out of my own pocket.
p.s. Richard, I am anonymous, because I don't want Aruban authoroties to find out about my actions on their island.
And, hey, do what you can, I am more of a "get my hands dirty" person, not a "all talk but no substance" person.

Anonymous said...

And just for your info, I have been doing searches like this for YEARS now, and have been able to find bodies of "lost" US Citizens in Mexico (3), Thailand, Indonesia, and in the US itself (12 already). I have also been able to find info that has saved 5 US girls (and 1 Dutch girl) from being used in Mexico City as whores. And don't get me started as to what goes on here in the US itself.
And Richard, guess what, I have NEVER had to hold up a sign to get all of this done, while I never had to work with local law enforment agencies or authoroties to GET THINGS DONE!
So people like tifini and richard, keep hiding, but don't play as if you know anything about getting things done.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous--

To answer your question, undoubtedly the Holloway Twittys would rather get their daughter back than have people protest in Boston, or anywhere else. So would the family of Amy Bradley, with whom I have been working with for five years. But we all do what we can.

If you're in a position to go to Aruba and search, more power to you and I wish you well. I'm not. We do what we can, and I think our protest (coupled with similar actions elsewhere, I hope) could well have some effect. The idea is to exert pressure on Aruba, and there is no idea that protesting is going to solve the crime. It may, however, help other Americans.

So best wishes, and may your searches prove to be effective.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous the diver. Save your crap. Take your post and move on. Should I believe you have done anything? You want to keep searching. Great, so be it. But don't come here again. Blabbering about what you say you have done. Keep it to yourself and keep quite. Boston is a major player in the Aruban economy. Getting press to hurt Aruba there is priceless!!!!

Anonymous said...

Blabbering does help to bring down the Aruban Dutch economy. The more annoying, the better. The Boston tourists don't want people and peers gossip them about vacationing in Aruba. It's not good for the upcoming job performance review and merit raise. If something bad happens to them in Aruba, everyone knows through the media. Some can ge fired and lose their jobs. It's not really worth it now going to Aruba for a snip. You are stupid if you do it to yourself.