Report says US$102,525 transfer case was not pursued over capacity limits

A research report published on Tuesday 6 October says a 2022 case involving three incoming transfers totalling US$102,525 was not investigated further after St. Maarten’s Financial Intelligence Unit referred it to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The report cites a July 2025 Caribbean Financial Action Task Force evaluation, which said prosecutors indicated there was insufficient financial investigative capacity.

According to the CFATF evaluation, a bank put the transfers on hold and filed an unusual transaction report after receiving conflicting explanations from the account holder. The FIU sought information from financial intelligence authorities in three foreign jurisdictions before forwarding an intelligence report to prosecutors.

The case was identified in the CFATF evaluation as “The Chinese Connection”. The evaluation did not establish that a criminal offence had occurred, that the transactions were part of an underground banking operation, or that those involved committed money laundering.

The report, titled Chinese Presence and Geopolitical Resilience in the Caribbean Parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was published through the China Knowledge Network by researchers associated with the Clingendael Institute and Caribbean research organisations. It also cited CFATF findings that the FIU workforce fell from 14 to eight employees during the review period and that the police financial investigation unit had two investigators at the time of the September 2024 assessment.