Three men face court for fraud, forgery in €100m face mask deal

Three men who made millions of euros selling face masks to the government during the coronavirus pandemic will face criminal prosecution, the public prosecution department said on Thursday.

Sywert van Lienden and the two other members of the Hulptroepen Alliantie (SHA) face charges of fraud, embezzlement, forgery and money laundering, the  department said in a statement.

The first hearing is scheduled for December 19.

Van Lienden, Bernd Damme and Camille van Gestel earned some €28.5 million between them on the face mask deal, which was brokered using Van Lieden’s government contacts. He was a prominent member of the CDA.

The trio procured 40 million masks at the start of the pandemic in April 2020, ostensibly through a non-profit organisation called Stichting Hulptroepen Alliantie. But it later emerged the bulk of the €100 million deal to supply masks to the health ministry had been routed through a limited company, Relief Goods Alliance, of which the trio were shareholders.

Van Lienden had vowed from the start to become ‘screamingly rich’ from the deal, recordings obtained by the Volkskrant newspaper later revealed. Van Lienden himself claims officials were aware the deal was being routed through a limited company.

In a reaction to news of the court case, Van Lieden said on social media that it was now his turn to question witnesses and produce evidence. “At least we can get started,” he said.

The foundation and the Dutch state are also suing the three men to get back the money they earned on the deal.

Other entrepreneurs who successfully used their political contacts to secure lucrative PPE contracts included Ferrari dealer Frits Kroymans, who earned an estimated €35 million from buying medical gowns.

Many of those on the VIP list had little or no experience of importing medical equipment before the pandemic began, according to a report by Deloitte into the contracts.