Oudenbosch jubilates, despite the fact that the treasurer gambled 80,000 euros. How could he darken so much money?

It was a fantastic live show, Friday evening, June 21 in Oudenbosch in Brabant. On the Jesuit Square, near the Basilica of Saint Agatha and Barbara, the sixty -member harmony of the village did not play a mars music or classical this time, but one Dance-Performance: Trance, Techno, EDM and Hardstyle. At the end of the DJ duo Lucas & Steve and a light and laser show, with the impressive basilica as the backdrop. Months of rehearsing had preceded it, the Harmonie celebrated its 190-year anniversary, simultaneously with Oudenbosch himself, this year 750 years old.

The party was allowed to cost something. 120,000 euros was made available. Around 90,000 euros came from the municipality of Halderberge, which includes Oudenbosch, the rest of the VSB Fund and private individuals. A year of celebrations and folklore, that was the intention. Oudenbosch wanted to be heard, as well as Amsterdam, Schiedam and Oud-Gastel, also 750 years old this year.

People can get into trouble with gambling websites

While that weekend was celebrated, there was almost no money left for further festivities. That was gambled by the 28-year-old treasurer of the Oudenbosch Foundation 750 years, as it turned out at the end of July when stage builders were not paid for their bills. The bill of the house party on the Jesuitplein, 20,000 euros, is still open and the creditors are in line.

The foundation was on the edge of bankruptcy, expenditure was blocked. Some parties took their loss. For example, the party of the Gilde Sint Sebastiaan, last Sunday, continued. Despite the cancellation of a contribution of 3,500 euros promised by the foundation.

Zoom in

Repay

The alarm bells at the foundation went off this summer when the treasurer went on holiday in July and suppliers came to the other board members with unpaid bills. From his holiday address the treasurer immediately confessed to chairman Cor van Oers of the Oudenbosch Foundation 750 years, the chairman says. And back in Oudenbosch, the chairman of the board of Oers was present when the treasurer was accountable to the rest of the foundation board.

Lawyer Tom Roggenkamp of the treasurer responded in it last month Ad That his client has a lot of regret, has since sought professional help and that “people can get into trouble with gambling websites”. Roggenkamp was for NRC Not available for further explanation; His office refers to his earlier response in it Ad.

Oudenbosch Foundation 750 years has reported its former treasurer. The organizers of the house party are considering the treasurer and the foundation liable. According to chairman of Oers of the foundation, agreements are currently being made with the former treasurer about repaying the money. How the treasurer could put such amounts so easily, about 80,000 euros according to the youngest estimates, on the back, remains unclear.

Policy officer

The organization of that house party, the Oudenbosch foundation is bustling with that, has little message. They did no business at all with that treasurer, says organizer Christian van Someren, secretary of Oudenbosch Bust. They did that with an official from the municipality of Halderberge. She was the point of contact for the large amounts. She called herself in an email from January “Policy officer culture, municipality of Halderberge”.

In the same period, however, she was also active for the Oudenbosch for 750 years, and managed money flows, according to app traffic from March ‘as soon as we have received the subsidy, I will give a signal and the invoice can be sent for it […] It is earmarked money: see the budget that has been discussed with you. ” NRC has viewed the mail and the app messages. A misunderstanding was excluded for Van Someren. “I made financial agreements with someone from the municipality.”

Zoom in

Abuse of subsidy

But the municipality of Halderberge rejects any involvement in subsidy abuse. She therefore does not support the report of the foundation to the police. And a spokesperson does not want to say more about the role of that policy officer than that her role is not being investigated ‘for the time being’. She joined the subsidy last year, says the municipality, and “she has always been open and transparent about her work as a volunteer at the Oudenbosch for 750 years. She is also not about that subsidy”.

What happened to those subsidies is, according to the municipality, only in the mid -next year, at the final settlement. “A subsidy has been provided and the recipient is responsible for the spending. We assess it afterwards on the basis of the financial and substantive accountability.”

Solidarity

A hurry -up crowdfunding, set up by the Foundation to prevent the rest of the festivities of the anniversary year from falling into the water, gave some air, but insufficient to close the financial gaps. “The outstanding amount is falling slowly,” says Van Oers. “But the festivities continue.”

Like last Sunday. Oudenbosch celebrated that feast on the occasion of the five hundred anniversary of the Gilde Sint Sebastiaan. There was a high mass in the basilica with the Oudenbosch Mannenkoor. The mayor, Anne Mulder, spoke on Saint Lousplein as if nothing had happened. He was talking about “a day of connectedness, of celebrating our shared history together.” After which the “wave your banners, for God, king and homeland”, scaled over the square.

Zoom in

To share





Mail the editors