WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (AP) Authorities in Curacao carried out searches Monday at six properties, including the home of a former prime minister, as part of an ongoing criminal investigation on the Dutch Caribbean island, officials said.
The searches at the home of Gerrit Schotte, now a member of parliament andleader of the Movement for Future of Curacao party, are part of an investigation into money laundering, forgery and related fraud, the public prosecutor's office said in a statement. No arrests were made.
The statement said two homes, an office and a party headquarters were searched in the presence of a prosecutor. A spokesman for the office, Norman Serphos, said a home owned by Schotte was among the properties searched.
He said the investigation had no connection to the slaying in May of Herman Wiels, a prominent local politician, despite local media reports to the contrary.
Schotte was ousted as prime minister of the semi-autonomous country in August 2012 when his governing coalition lost its majority.
