ABN Amro has been ordered to pay €11m to the wealthy Van der Sluijs family after a con man was able to steal over €20m from their account over a 10 year period, the Financieele Dagblad says on Thursday.

The money was embezzled by a former family friend named by the FD as Frits Penning, who acted as a financial advisor. He was able to plunder the account without any interference from the bank, even though he had no authority to do so.

The court said it is ‘incomprehensible’ that ABN Amro failed in its duties from 2001 to 2011.

Lingerie

The ruling was made in 2014 but has only now come to light because one of the advisor’s henchmen is appearing in court. He has been charged with money laundering via a lingerie company.

Lingerie firm CDZ is one of 10 companies which Penning set up using the stolen cash.  His court case has yet to begin, the FD says.

ABN Amro, which refused to comment on the deal, has appealed against the court ruling.