VZCZCXRO1721
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHPO #0028 0131917
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131917Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7963
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHAO/AMCONSUL CURACAO 0930
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 1504
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1511

UNCLAS PARAMARIBO 000028 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR - LLUFTIG 
DEPT FOR INL/LP  NBOZZOLO, KBROWN 
CARACAS FOR LEGATT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCRM PGOV PREL ECON NS
SUBJECT: PROMINENT CASINO OWNER CONVICTED OF MONEY 
LAUNDERING AND DRUG TRAFFICKING IN DUTCH COURT 
 
REF: (A) 05 PARAMARIBO 198 (B) 05 PARAMARIBO 068 
 
¶1. (U) Summary. On 23 December a judge in the Netherlands 
sentenced Bidjay Parmessar to ten years in prison for drug 
trafficking, money laundering and fraud.  Parmessar, who is 
a Dutch national, is a well-known and influential 
businessman in Suriname.  He was arrested in March 2005 as 
part of 'Operation Ficus,' a joint operation between 
Suriname and the Netherlands aimed to tackle drug 
trafficking and money laundering occuring between Suriname 
and the Netherlands. (See ref A).  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Parmessar was the chief operator and owner of the 
Yokohama Trading Company, which Surinamese and Dutch 
judicial authorities had long suspected of being a front 
for a criminal organization.  The Dutch judiciary found 
that the head of Yokohama was involved in trafficking large 
amounts of cocaine from Suriname to the Netherlands and 
other European countries and laundering the proceeds 
through his company's many casinos, car dealerships, 
foreign exchange offices, and money transfer offices in 
both countries.  Operation Ficus, begun in 2000, has 
devoted millions of Euros to investigating the so-called 
Yokohama drugs cartel, culminating in the arrest of the 
Yokohoma head last year by French officials in Paris after 
he had fled Suriname to avoid arrest in March 2005.   He 
fled just after his business concerns in Suriname were 
raided and associates arrested in a joint Surinamese-Dutch 
operation to seize evidence.  French authorities 
immediately extradited him to the Netherlands.  Despite 
Parmessar's arrest and conviction, Yokohoma business 
entities, such as its car dealerships and casinos, continue 
to operate. 
 
¶3. (U) The presiding judge passed down a ten year sentence, 
even though the Dutch Attorney General's office only 
requested nine years.  His sentence is based on evidence 
that he arranged drug transports behind the scenes; the 
Court made this ruling despite a lack of physical evidence 
of cocaine being trafficked or being in his possession, 
according to local press reports. The prosecution also 
reportedly provided evidence that Parmessar was laundering 
money through his company's money transfer offices in the 
Netherlands and Suriname using forged invoices. 
 
¶4. (U) After the trial Parmessar's lawyer, Inez Weski, said 
she thought "the verdict was insane" because there was no 
clear-cut evidence against her client. (Note: Weski is also 
the lawyer of former military dictator and current 
Surinamese politician Desi Bouterse, who has hired her to 
overturn his conviction for narcotics trafficking rendered 
in the Netherlands in absentia in 1999. End Note.)  During 
the trial, Weski objected to the methods used by Dutch 
authorities during the investigation, such as infiltration 
and wiretapping.  She also claimed that the Dutch did not 
obtain authorization for their investigations in Suriname. 
Her objections, however, were overruled by the Dutch Court, 
which stated that investigations in Suriname were properly 
led by examining judge Albert Ramnewash and the then 
Commissioner of the Judicial Police, Chandrikapersad 
Santokhi, who is now the Minister of Justice and Police. 
 
¶5. (U) Operation Fiscus also led to the arrest of 
Parmessar's brother, Bisoen Parmessar, in January 2005. 
(See ref B). He was arrested in Suriname, but then later 
extradited to the Netherlands where he is expected to face 
trial early this year on drug trafficking and money 
laundering charges. 
 
BARNES