The Dutch public prosecution department has confirmed it plans to take legal action against Damen Shipyards and several executives, alleging the company has been involved in bribery, money laundering and breaching sanctions against Russia.

The decision to prosecute follows a seven-year investigation and efforts to reach an out-of-court settlement last year, sources have told the Volkskrant.

Those efforts were halted after further revelations in the Dutch media about Damen breaching Russian sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine at the end of last year.

Two separate cases are involved: one focusing on bribery between 2006 and 2017, and the other on Russian sanctions.

Three board members – current chairman Arnout Damen, his father Kommer Damen, who chairs the supervisory board, and René B, chairman from 2006 to 2019 – also face prosecution, the paper said.

In the first case, the company and executives are said to have paid large sums of money to agents in Sierra Leone, Indonesia, Ghana, Brazil, the Bahamas, Curaçao and Trinidad and Tobago to win orders. The company’s British agent in the Caribbean, named by the paper as Stephen H, also faces prosecution.

In the second case, the paper said the prosecution department believes Damen has continued to supply goods and technology to Russia, which may have strengthened the military there.

Company denies wrongdoing

Damen told NOS in response that there is no case to answer and that it expects  long, drawn-out court proceedings.

“In the press statement, the department is mixing events from the past and a recent case focusing on sanctions,” the company said. “By presenting them together, the department would appear to be suggesting that Damen Shipyards is structurally looking for the limits of the law.”

Damen has a workforce of 12,000, based across 35 shipyards in 20 different countries. It focuses on military vessels, yachts and working boats for harbours.