Suriname-2009 Article IV Consultation Concluding Statement of the IMF Mission Nov 3, 2009
Paramaribo, October 30, 2009. We would like to thank the authorities for their warm hospitality, excellent cooperation, and generous assistance in coordinating our meetings with government officials, and representatives of the private sector, labor, the diplomatic community, and the opposition. (IMF News)
Press Release: Statement at the Conclusion of an IMF Staff Mission to Suriname Jul 7, 2009
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission headed by Gamal El-Masry of the Western Hemisphere Department issued the following statement at the end of its discussions in Paramaribo. An IMF team visited Paramaribo during the last week of June to review recent economic and fiscal developments and discuss economic prospects and policies, ahead of the government's preparations for the 2010 budget. (IMF News)
Promoter: Singer innocent of Braxton scam May 27, 2009
Posted: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) -- A concert promoter testified Tuesday that he alone tried to foist off a Las Vegas-based entertainer as six-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton at a show that has since been dubbed the "Phony Toni" concert. Angel Ventura, 45, told a judge that Braxton impersonator Trina Johnson-Finn was an unwitting participant of his scheme that tricked people in this tiny South American country into paying up to 53 a ticket for the Feb. 28 concert in... (Sioux City Journal, IO)
Hugh Jackman to launch `Wolverine' in Mexico May 12, 2009
PARAMARIBO, Suriname - A Suriname promoter acknowledged trying to pass off a Las Vegas-based entertainer as six-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton at a disastrous show dubbed the "Phony Toni" concert by local media, his lawyer said Thursday. MOVIE NEWS. (Hanford Sentinal, CA)
Promoter admits to Braxton scam May 9, 2009
Ms Johnson-Finn, 40, who is in custody in the country's capital Paramaribo, says she did not know she was advertised as the real Braxton. Scapegoat. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Lawyer: Man admits phony Toni Braxton scam May 8, 2009
PARAMARIBO, Suriname - A concert promoter accused of trying to pass off a Las Vegas-based entertainer as six-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton has confessed to arranging the scheme in Suriname, his attorney said Thursday ... Finn also alleged that Ventura, who was arrested Monday in a bar in Paramaribo, the capital of this small former Dutch colony, pilfered the box office proceeds ... Investigators said she had gone into hiding immediately after the Paramaribo concert turned into a melee. (MSNBC -- News)
Braxton 'tribute act' faces trial May 8, 2009
Trina Johnson-Finn was booed off stage in Paramaribo in March and pelted with rubbish when the huge crowd realised she was not the award-winning artist. She is in custody awaiting her fraud trial which begins on 26 May. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Toni Braxton impersonator faces trial in Suriname May 6, 2009
PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- A Las Vegas-based entertainer has been jailed after prosecutors said she tried to pass herself off as Toni Braxton at a concert, prompting the disappointed crowd to jeer and pelt the stage with trash ... Rosita Leeflang, a newspaper reporter from Paramaribo, was there with a friend ... He was arrested Monday in a bar in Paramaribo, the capital of this small former Dutch colony with 480,000 inhabitants. (Fresno Bee -- Local)
Caribbean news briefs May 5, 2009
PARAMARIBO, Suriname - A former justice minister was sentenced Monday to a year in prison after being convicted of money laundering and participating in a criminal organization on behalf of a cousin in the Netherlands. Siegfried Gilds laundered drug money from his cousin by buying homes and land between 2000 and 2005 while serving as justice minister in this former Dutch colony, Surinamese Judge Anand Charan said at a sentencing hearing in a Paramaribo court. (NJ.com -- News)
6 named for $150K Goldman Environmental Prizes Apr 19, 2009
Huga Jabini and Wanze Eduards, Paramaribo & Pikin Slee Village, Suriname. Together they organized against logging on their communities' traditional lands, leading to a landmark court ruling on the rights of tribal peoples to control resources in their territories. (USA Today)
U.S. Celebrity Impersonator Trina Johnson-Finn Jailed Unjustifiably in South America after Alleged Toni Braxton Concert Scam Mar 25, 2009
Angel Ventura of Events 4 Suriname - a Paramaribo, Suriname company - promoted the event to the Surinamese people as a Toni Braxton Concert. Ventura contracted Johnson through RNRH Entertainment. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
