L’Affair Besaril stirred muck up this week.
Our former, one and a half terms minister, at the Arubahuis in the Netherlands, who wanted us to believe that he vacated his position to become a full time father, wasn’t exactly honest with us.
He couldn’t go back to the Police force, since he was under investigation, and some say he remained on the payroll of MinPres’ office, on standby, fully employed, not working, a consultant of sorts.
A damning audio surfaced this week, where Adi Thijsen, his party peer, and his successor in the Netherlands, is heard ranting on and on about the fact that Besaril is not suitable for the Minister Plenipotentiary job, and while it is not clear who Thijsen is speaking to, he carries on, how Besaril has to go, Evelyn knows, she cannot claim semi-integrity, she must be careful lest the opposition jumps on the opportunity to condemn GOA, Besaril mishandled the affairs of the Arubahuis, his colleagues there spilled the beans and became whistle blowers, Evelyn knew BEFORE reappointing him to the job.
We speculate that at the time Thijsen wanted the job himself, so that is why the recording most probably, because Besaril won out.
Embarrassing, but not surprising.
Our MinPres must be irked by Thijsen, but Thijsen was irked by her, and purposely recorded his conversation for use at an upcoming opportunity, we are not sure if he intend it for general consumption. It must have been part of his ‘negotiation’ strategy, but it leaked anyway!
The million dollar question.
Why did MinPres sit on the information, and when it saw light, why did it take GOA so long, until mid-January, 2023, to send Besaril a formal letter, terminating his services, upon which he hired a high profiled lawyer. He has been a civil servant for many years and there is a lot at stake. During his career he served as a policeman, he even worked in the organized crime section, and he is an educated man, having obtained a Bachelor in Training & Human Development.
I was always told the man is not very smart. Indeed, such a breach of trust occurs when an official blurs the line between his work title and his private person.
So, now you know that GOA waited a long time to offload Besaril. Supposedly the first worrisome reports surfaced in May 2021, focusing on fraud, and unethical practices, still he was left on the MEP list, and reappointed GevMin, in spite of whistle blower testimonials.
It’s a mystery. MEP party peers report MinPres was certainly very lenient with Besaril. He was disliked and avoided by many, and finally when an audit was announced, some hot potatoes were left out. It was a limited audit, conducted by the Central Accounting Service, CAD, and the department of Human Resources, DRH, reviewing about 15% to 20% of the materials, excluding Aruba Day 2018/2019, which was not investigated. The auditors concluded the minister was living large on the public’s dime. He turned out to be arrogant and greedy, operating from a strong sense of entitlement.
My sources speculate the Dutch OM would have reacted more sternly.
The fraud took place on Dutch soil, why isn’t it prosecuted in the Netherlands?
Here it will take long, and there will probably be a civil suit as well. It will be featured as political persecution.
A bit of history: After finishing his studies, he returned to the Aruba Police Force, rose through the Union ranks, but switched to politics. In November 2013, he was elected Member of Parliament, on the MEP benches, and even served as the President of the Parliament. On November 20th, 2017, Besaril was appointed as the Minister Plenipotentiary of Aruba in the cabinet Wever-Croes I. He has been in the Netherlands ever since, with Cabinet Wever-Croes II.
Last year a number of whistle-blowers wrote a well-documented letter to the prime minister spilling the beans that the man has been abusing Aruba’s debit and credit card. A two week investigation eventually followed, covering about 25% or relevant materials, revealing an ugly reality.
Our Minister Plenipotentiary did not learn anything from the former-minister Paul Croes debacle, and from the scandal surrounding the POR party funds, and the fall from grace of politician Alan Howell.
His list of dubious transactions is long, covering every aspect of life, from rent to furniture, Mac Pro computers, car rentals, charged meals, and airline tickets.
