This summer, the Groningen basketball club Donar went bankrupt. Treasurer Ronald Arkema from Assen is identified as guilty. Unjustified, he thinks: “I don’t like the story of the other board members: Wir haben ess nicht gewusst.”
Ronald Arkema is mortified. For a while, he said, he could no longer walk quietly on the street. He was given the cold shoulder because of Donar’s bankruptcy. We speak to him twice.
Things didn’t go well, he acknowledges. But Arkema emphasizes that he always had Donar’s best interests at heart. “If you look back at some of the things, I just… I should have asked for help much sooner. Very simple. I wanted to solve everything myself.”
Many people point the finger at you when it comes to bankruptcy. How do you view that?
“You can blame everything on me, but I don’t think it’s fair. I had a number of private matters going on, but I was always the one who was busy with the club. Call that one, and then that one again. It was all one-way traffic. I stopped doing that in August 2022. Let’s take a look: What will become of it?”
What do you mean then? That you had to do everything alone?
“Yes, the rest of the board leaned back. Ronald will arrange it. But it does not work like that.”
In the autumn of 2022, Arkema will sound the alarm. His message: The club is heading for a shortage of commerce. “There were also a lot of things going on with me in my private life during that period and I was about to take over two Multicopy businesses in Assen and Zwolle. At one point I said: it’s enough. I can no longer continue and will stop at the end of the season.”
Why do you think Donar went bankrupt?
“If you have a budget of 2.1 million euros and you have a large number of fixed obligations, then there must be something in return through commerce. To put it bluntly, it means for that department: put your money on the handlebars and cycle. If the money is not in the account and you do not collect the money, you cannot pay.”
Why then does everyone point to you in the press conferences about the bankruptcy?
“I am partly responsible.”
What was it like for you to be portrayed as the main culprit?
“Why do you think I didn’t respond? I have to prove everything I say against it. I also point back and wonder: Where was the alertness of the board and the Supervisory Board to things? If they had just looked at the documents and just done things that they should have done as directors, namely making sure; where do we stand and then ask critical questions about it. As a board we were not sufficiently critical of each other. I have reached a settlement regarding what I established with them: I did not do this properly. But I don’t like the story of the other board members: We didn’t want to do anything.”
Have you taken money from the club for your own use?
,,No no. No way. Because then I would have benefited from the club. I actually put 15,000 euros a year into that club for eight years. Regardless of my hours and time. Have I been flawless? Let me be very clear: no. It is my biggest mistake that I did not seek help when I was drowning in it.”
Because then maybe Donar wouldn’t have gone bankrupt?
,,I do not know. But then I could have been sharper and asked: hey guys, how do we deal with the commerce shortage? If we don’t do anything, the pot will soon be empty. What I missed from my fellow directors are questions like: OK, a deficit of a few hundred thousand euros, what does that mean? I cranked it up a hundred times, but it was just swept aside. It’s very simple. As a board we were simply four islands.”
But are the people who say otherwise lying?
“No, that’s their truth. I don’t know what their experience is, I don’t know what information they do or don’t have.”
We’ve seen evidence that you were embezzling money.
“I don’t comment on that. I arranged everything with Donar through a settlement.”
Are you an accountant? There is uncertainty about that.
“I am theoretically an accountant, but I am not registered in the register for accountants. You can see my diploma from Hanze University of Applied Sciences, it is just on my cupboard at home. If you read my CV, it doesn’t say anywhere that I am an accountant.”
With an accountant this is quite precise. Anyone who is not an accountant may not use the title. We saw that you did.
“It is true that I signed emails as AA (accountant-administration consultant, ed.). I don’t really have an explanation for it. Yes, it is true that it does suggest something… In some cases it is useful, but it is exactly what you say: it is not formally allowed.”