KRALENDIJK – The Court ruled in favor of curator Stan van Liere in a case against former general manager of Bopec, Ethward (Echi) Manuel.

The case, taken over by the curator of the previously bankrupt Bonaire Petroleum Corporation, NV. (Bopec), resulted in Manuel being convicted to pay an amount of $301,878 to the curator. Additionally, Manuel must also reimburse the legal costs on the side of the curator, represented by Van Liere and his colleague Lucas Drissen, amounting to $12,000.

The court ruled that there was ‘unjust enrichment’ by Manuel, at the expense of Bopec. An investigation conducted by Cactus Accounting Services revealed that Manuel had received too much net salary for years.

Manuel, in turn, disputes the Curator’s claim and asserts that he had a ‘gross is net salary’ agreement with Bopec. In this agreement, the employer pays taxes on the employee’s gross salary. However, the court ruled that there was no concrete implementation of this agreement and that there was no written agreement underlying it. Questions are also raised about designating the salary according to a so-called expatriate scheme, where little to no tax is due on the received amount.

Legal battle

The ruling emphasizes the ongoing legal battle between Manuel and the curator. It is not expected that Manuel will simply accept the ruling.