Corruption in Suriname has drawn attention in recent years due to several high-profile cases involving top officials and agencies of the government. The incidence of corruption in Suriname has been attributed to the lack of transparency, accountability, and strong regulatory frameworks that address graft and corruption. Corruption cases have undermined the integrity of state institutions, including the country’s financial institutions and overall financial stability.
In 2020, the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) was embroiled in a corruption scandal that involved around $100 million. The fund, which was entrusted by private banks to the financial institution, was misused and at the center of the controversy was Robert van Trikt, the then governor of CBvS. He was accused of spending more than $800,000 for personal use, including the purchase of luxury vehicles. Van Trikt was convicted and sentenced to six years imprisonment for violating the country’s Anti-Corruption Act, forgery, embezzlement, money laundering, and participation in a criminal enterprise. [1]
Van Trikt was found to have engaged in fraudulent contract with the Belgian company Clairfield Belgium, which was also ordered by a Belgian court in a separate court proceeding to repay CBvS as the fees were declared to have been obtained through void contracts. Clairfield signed five of these contracts with Van Trikt in 2019. It was also found that Van Trikt used bank funds to pay for his wife’s loans. [2]
The bank governor, who was the son of a previous Education Minister, was not the only official implicated in the large-scale corruption case. Other high-ranking government executives were said to have participated and these include then Minister of Finance, Gillmore Hoefdraad, the former director of Legal Affairs of the Central Bank, Faranaaz Hausil, and the former director of the Surinamese Postspaarbank, Ginmardo Kromosoto. Hoefdraad and Hausil had both been convicted for their participation in the conspiracy. [2]
By March 2024, no less than Suriname’s President Chan Santokhi and two of his cabinet ministers were involved in an alleged misappropriation of public funds. This stemmed from an investigation launched by the Public Prosecution Service concerning the disbursement of about $7.5 million to Pan-American Real Estate. The investigation was launched after an anonymous whistleblower filed a criminal complaint before the attorney general’s office. The transaction was alleged to have been completed based on falsified documents. [3]
In the same year, press freedom also came under scrutiny due to a legal battle over a book on corruption. Authored by Dutch entrepreneur Gerard van den Bergh, “Corruption at the Highest Level: Doing Business in Suriname” was at the center of the controversy. Santoki, who was one of the public officials cited in the book, not only filed a lawsuit against the book publisher but also targeted newspapers that featured it as well as bookstores selling copies. [4] The move raised concerns over the state of press freedom and expression in Suriname. [5] Some shops have already withdrawn the book from their shelves and instituted recall of sold copies. [4] Also included in Van den Bergh’s work are allegations of corruption by Livestock and Fisheries Minister Parmanand Sewdien and entrepreneur Vijay Kirpalani. [5]
The legal framework that addresses corruption in Suriname includes instruments introduced as part of the country’s commitment to international and regional human rights and anti-corruption treaties. [6] A Steering Group was also established to monitor and facilitate the country’s anti-corruption initiatives at the local and international levels. An anti-corruption bill is also under consideration by the Surinamese National Assembly to augment the existing measures. [6] Recent measures include training, workshops, and public awareness initiatives designed to strengthen institutional and procedural reforms addressing corruption. [7] These include the conduct of the National Risk Assessment (NRA), which sought to identify and address money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the country. [8]
Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index gave Suriname a score of 40 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Suriname ranked 87th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. [9] For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among the countries of the Americas [Note 1] was 76, the average score was 43 and the lowest score was 13. [10] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11 (ranked 180). [11]
The Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) is Suriname’s highest monetary authority and the country’s governing body in monetary and economic affairs.
Corruption in Armenia has decreased significantly in modern times, but remains an ongoing problem in the country. Despite this, fighting corruption following the 2018 Armenian revolution has recorded significant progress. Armenia is a member of the Council of Europe's Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) and the OECD's Anti-Corruption Network and Armenia's anti-corruption measures are regularly evaluated within their monitoring mechanisms.
Observers maintain that corruption in Paraguay remains a major impediment to the emergence of stronger democratic institutions and sustainable economic development in Paraguay.
Corruption in Romania has decreased in recent years. In particular since 2014, Romania undertook a significant anti-corruption effort that included the investigation and prosecution of medium- and high-level political, judicial and administrative officials by the National Anticorruption Directorate. The National Anticorruption Directorate was established in 2002 by the Romanian government to investigate and prosecute medium and high-level corruption related offenses, using a model of organization inspired by similar structures in Norway, Belgium and Spain. Adrian Zuckerman, the US Ambassador in Romania, has stated in 2021 that "the rule of law has been strengthened in Romania". Since 2022, the effectiveness of the investigation and sanctioning of high-level corruption further improved, including by advancing on cases that had been pending for years for procedural reasons.
In general, Belgium has a well-developed legal and institutional framework for fighting against corruption.
Corruption in Lithuania describes the prevention and occurrence of corruption in Lithuania.
Corruption in Sweden has been defined as "the abuse of power" by Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå). By receiving bribes, bribe takers abuse their position of power, which is consistent with how the National Anti-Corruption Unit of the Swedish Prosecution Authority specifies the term. Although bribes and improper rewards are central in the definition of corruption in Sweden, corruption in the sense of "abuse of power" can also manifest itself in other crimes such as misuse of office, embezzlement, fraud and breach of trust against a principal.
Corruption in Denmark is amongst the lowest in the world.
Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index scored Germany at 78 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Germany ranked 9th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90, the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11. For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among Western European and European Union countries was 90, the average score was 65 and the lowest score was 42.
Corruption in Slovenia is examined on this page.
Austria has a well-developed institutional and legal system, and most corruption cases under investigation by a parliamentary committee end with judicial trials and effective judgments. However, there are several significant Austrian corruption cases which have taken place during the past decade involving land and regional officials, high-level public officials, the central government and, in one instance, the former Chancellor.
Corruption in Slovakia is a serious and ongoing problem.
Corruption is a serious and growing problem for doing business in Nicaragua.
Since independence, corruption has been more than prevalent in Cameroon. In fact, corruption has become pervasive and has affected all sectors of the government and civil society including the executive, judiciary, police, and even the private sector. The main causes being a deep lack of political will to fight corruption and neopatrimonialism. Other causes include; personal interests and absence of duty conscience, weak judiciary and almost nonexistent opposition in the legislative, nepotism and favouritism, ineffective system of accountability, among others.
A general public survey on corruption from Transparency International shows that citizens perceive Bosnia and Herzegovina's political structures to be deeply affected by corruption. Two-thirds of citizens believe that the government's efforts to combat corruption are ineffective.
As of the early 2020s, Croatia has severe problems with systemic and political corruption. Among European Union member states, it is generally ranked as one of the five most corrupt states.
Gregory Allan Rusland is a Surinamese politician. He served as Minister for Natural Resources between 2005 and 2010. In 2012 he became leader of the National Party of Suriname. Rusland has been a member of the National Assembly since 2015.
Corruption in Guinea-Bissau occurs at among the highest levels in the world. In Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2023, Guinea-Bissau scored 22 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Guinea-Bissau ranked 158th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. However, Guinea-Bissau's score has either improved or remained steady every year since its low point in 2018, when it scored 16. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score in 2023 was 90, the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11. For comparison with regional scores, the average score among sub-Saharan African countries was 33. The highest score in sub-Saharan Africa was 71 and the lowest score was 11. In 2013, Guinea-Bissau scored below the averages for both Africa and West Africa on the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s Index of African Governance.
General elections were held in Suriname on 25 May 2020. The elections occurred concurrently with an economic crisis in Suriname, as well as the COVID-19 crisis.
Suriname Investment and Trade Agency (SITA) is a Surinamese government institution that was founded in 2021.
