Two company directors implicated in the long-running investigation into corruption at Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards have struck plea bargaining deals with the prosecution service.

The settlements were disclosed during preliminary hearings into the case in Zwolle, where the company, its executives and agents are accused of bribery and falsifying documents.

In a separate case, Damen is also accused of breaching EU sanctions against Russia by illegally exporting ship components.

Marketing director Sander van O. is said to have accepted a compulsory work order of 160 hours for concealing irregular commission fees in Damen’s accounts, NRC reported on Monday.

O. was the company’s regional director for the Americas, where many of the offences allegedly took place in countries such as Brazil, Curaçao, the Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Richard Lopez-Ramirez, former director of the Curaçao Ports Authority (CPA), is also said to have settled with the prosecution service (OM). One of the charges says Damen promised a CPA director €220,000 if it placed an order for its ships.

Inflated commission

The long list of charges read out at the start of the hearing also says Damen paid €26.5 million in commission to a sales agent in Indonesia without reporting it to the Dutch state credit agency Atradius DSB.

Damen is also alleged to have promised an agent in Sierre Leone 15% commission on sales of ships without declaring the payments to the World Bank, which was funding the purchases, and to have transferred $350,000 to Swiss and Chinese bank accounts held by a director of Brazilian state oil company Petrobras.

Damen, based in Gorinchem and with annual revenues of €3 billion, is the Netherlands’ largest shipbuilder and the country’s only marine yard capable of producing naval vessels.

Alongside the company itself, president-commissioner Kommer Damen, current chief executive Arnout Damen and former chief executive René Berkvens are all under investigation. The trio were not present at Monday’s hearing.

Many of the alleged offences are said to have ended shortly after a major raid by the FIOD tax investigation service at Damen’s headquarters in January 2017.

The corruption case alone has taken the public prosecution service eight years to investigate, and the defence is expected to call more than 100 witnesses, including several from countries such as Sierra Leone, Curaçao and Barbados.

“Justice and fairness”

The only major suspect to give evidence on Monday was Stephen Hobson, Damen’s sales agent in the Caribbean, who flew from Barbados to protest his innocence.

The 77-year-old is accused of taking 15% commission on sales even though he only received 2% according to documents filed with Atradius DSB. He said he was entitled to the cited amounts in his capacity as partner and denied bribing officials.

“I have given 10 of my best commercial years to Damen,” he told the court. “All I want is justice and fairness.”