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 and leader 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.
