First Curacao International Bank depositor sues Central Bank for return of funds

An 'innocent' client of suspected money launderer First Curacao International Bank is suing the Central Bank of the Netherlands Antilles for refusing to release its funds. Scipio LLC, a Nevis corporation, has accused the regulator of improperly holding on to depositors' funds so that it can earn interest from them after closing down the bank in 2006 amid a criminal investigation in the Netherlands into whether FCIB was laundering the proceeds of a European-based Value Added Tax scam known as 'carousel' fraud.