The phones of Ballast Nedam chief executive Theo Bruijninckx and his wife were tapped in spring 2012 as part of a corruption probe involving the company, the NRC reports on Friday.

Although not a suspect, Bruijninckx’ phone was tapped and bugs placed in his car and office, according to justice ministry documents which are in the hands of the NRC.

An unnamed senior executive at Ballast Nedam International, who was a suspect, was also bugged at the same time, the NRC says.

Rare

The paper says it is extremely rare that someone in Bruijninckx’ position is bugged but that this is possible in law. Since a change in the law in 2000, non-suspects can be subject to surveillance if they know something about the law-breaking or could have contact with a suspect.

At the end of 2012, Ballast Nedeam reached a €17.5m out of court settlement with the public prosecution department over foreign bribery claims between 1996 and 2003. Ballast Nedam had raised the issue with the justice ministry in 2011 and cooperated fully with the investigation, the NRC says.