With the payment of 1.1 million euros to the Tax Authorities, the prosecution of the directors of secondment company Bikkel Groep from Drenthe and Groningen ends. Because the case dragged on for too long after raids in 2017, the Public Prosecution Service forfeited its right to prosecute.
The two men from Zuidwolde and Tuk will therefore not be convicted. Secondment company Bikkel Groep is said to have committed millions of millions of fraud by incorrectly registering migrant workers from Latvia as trainees.
The investigation led to raids in Drenthe, Groningen and Latvia in 2017. Homes, bank accounts and five expensive cars were seized.
The houses and cars were returned, but after that nothing happened in the investigation for a long time. Too long, according to the suspects’ lawyer, as a result of which the Public Prosecution Service forfeited its right to prosecute. The judges now agree with this. This brings an end to this criminal case.
The ruling of the court in Zwolle was no surprise to the Public Prosecution Service. Agreements had already been made with the defense this year. The two directors each performed 120 hours of unpaid work and paid the tax authorities 1.1 million euros. That was the amount that the tax authorities had missed with the construction that Bikkel Group had set up.
It was especially important for the two directors that they did not get a criminal record. With a conviction, banks, insurers and municipalities would terminate the business relationship with Bikkel Groep, the lawyer said at the hearing two weeks ago. He compared that to a ‘lifelong professional ban’.