Parliamentarian: Mike de Meza expressed his gratitude to the legal team that worked on his case after a period of a year and a half during which the investigation focused on him. During an emotional statement alongside his wife, he shared details about the early days and the challenges he faced.
De Meza indicated that, in the beginning moments, he was invited to a conversation where screenings were reviewed, all of which turned out positive, including the Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) screening, medical, and psychological evaluations. He emphasized that no screening showed drug use, nor did the screenings from KPA, Landsrecherche, or Dienst Veiligheid; however, the tax department (belastingdienst) confronted him with a story for which he could not understand the reason.
The accusations indicated that he had supposedly sold his company, that this company was worth millions, and that only a few thousand florins in taxes were paid. According to de Meza, this was completely false, and that moment was incomprehensible, leading him to categorize it as a political persecution or malicious intent.
De Meza, who served as Minister of Finance from 2009 to 2013, remarked that he has always assumed responsibility and made the decisions that needed to be made. He admitted that during his time as minister, he established a management team within the tax department because, according to de Meza, things were not running correctly. During that period, various directors and inspectors were removed from the tax department. At that time, several investigations were commissioned that pointed to the inefficiency taking place within the tax department back then, as well as various games involving the abuse of power occurring within it.
According to Mike de Meza, he never spoke about these things because he believes that the Tax Department is a very important department for the Country of Aruba and many people believe in its functioning, but that there were a few “bad apples” in the department who heavily abused their power and now, years later, he himself has been persecuted, Mike de Meza stated. For this reason, he concluded that the management, screenings, and reports show things that do not add up.