The former head of the Rotterdam port authority on Monday denied in court that he had been bought by business man Joep van den Nieuwenhuyzen with a €1.2m bribe, the Financieele Dagblad reports.

The public prosecution department claims Willem Scholten was given the money in return for loan guarantees to several of Van den Nieuwenhuyzen’s companies between 2002 and 2004.
Scholten has been under investigation since it emerged he had guaranteed bank loans to Van den Nieuwenhuijzen to the tune of €150m without consultation with the rest of the port authority.
The port guarantee allowed Van den Nieuwenhuijzen to borrow large sums of money on behalf of his now bankrupt company RDM.