The chairman of the right-wing Liberal party VVD has resigned after coming under fire for his involvement in a controversial million euro crematorium deal.

Henry Keizer stepped down temporarily earlier this month pending an inquiry by the party’s integrity committee.

In his resignation letter, Keizer said the party needed a chairman who could fully devote themselves to the job in hand. For this reason, Keizer said, he had decided to step down.

‘In the coming period I must concentrate on counteracting the string of accusations and insinuations made against me,’ he said.

Keizer took over the commercial arm of a Dutch crematorium association in 2012 for €12.5m, even though the company had been valued at €31.5m. At the time, he was also an advisor to the association, website Follow the Money revealed last month.

It later transpired that Keizer is also chairman of the association and this allows him to control what information about the 2012 deal is made public.