A process of a loner against the crowd. That is how Sywert van Lienden described in the Amsterdam court on Tuesday afternoon the battle he has been waging for more than a year with public opinion, a group of former employees and recently also with the Public Prosecution Service (OM).
The import of face masks, which resulted in a profit of more than 20 million euros for him and two business partners, was not an ‘abuse’, but a ‘national misunderstanding’. Van Lienden called the public attention for his activities towards the judge a “circus of disinformation”. “I am the national head of jut here.”
Tuesday’s hearing in the Amsterdam courtroom was Van Lienden’s first public appearance since a tv interview at Buitenhof in June 2021, which took place shortly after de Volkskrant and Follow the Money revealed that he and his partners saved millions from a major face mask deal with the government. His business partners Bernd Damme and Camille van Gestel were also present in the courtroom.
The session revolved around the question of whether Van Lienden and Damme should be fired as directors of the Auxiliary Troops Alliance (Van Gestel stepped down as director in September 2020). The Public Prosecution Service and a group of former employees had requested this, because the two – with Van Gestel as co-shareholder – would have disadvantaged the foundation by operating their own commercial company next door, in which part of the income from the mouth mask trade ended up. In the run-up to the substantive handling of the case the court adjourned Damme and Van Lienden temporarily as directors at the end of April.
Opposition to dismissal
Van Lienden and Damme are opposed to a possible dismissal, it turned out on Tuesday. According to them, it was clear from the outset that it was clear to “all relevant parties” that in addition to their Auxiliary Forces Alliance – a non-profit foundation – they also ran a commercial venture, Relief Goods Alliance. “The whole umfeld knew that,” said Van Lienden. According to him, small customers in the care sector received an invoice from the foundation, the commercial BV was used for ‘large business orders’ from companies such as ABN Amro, Esso and BMW.
From its foundation in March 2020, the foundation was exclusively intended to serve parties in primary care, such as general practitioners and physiotherapists, Damme argued. When large companies also registered as potential buyers, he believed that a separate BV was needed. “We wanted to separate the capital,” said Van Lienden. “We noticed that we had to turn down customers who couldn’t be helped by the foundation.”
In addition, the commercial activity was necessary to provide the three entrepreneurs with income, said Van Lienden. All three had financial difficulties due to the corona crisis. “Otherwise we would have simply had to cease our involvement with the foundation.”
According to him, the employees who were involved with Auxiliary Forces in the spring of 2020 were also aware of the existence of RGA. The group present in the courtroom reacted emotionally to this. “That’s quite an accusation: they already knew it,” said their lawyer Marcel Evers. “That is absolutely not true.” Everyone involved, including the employees who helped deliver 40 million face masks to the government, were “under the delusion” that they were participating in the activities of a foundation.
Access to Deloitte report
During the hearing, it turned out that Van Lienden had recently been given access to a draft version of the Deloitte research report, which has been investigating the mouth mask deal with the government for almost a year. According to him, the report contains exculpatory conclusions for him. For example, in April 2020, the Ministry of Health allegedly refused to do business with the Auxiliary Troops Foundation, insisting on “regular commercial delivery.” Van Lienden: “It is not that we have misled the government.”
In addition, according to Van Lienden, the Deloitte report will “shine light” on the millions they saved from the government deal. As soon as the trio realized that a large profit would remain, they said they offered the government to lower the price. “But the government did not want that: too complicated.” It is not yet clear when the Deloitte report will be made public.
The court will decide on July 21 on the possible dismissal of Van Lienden and Damme as directors. In addition, the Public Prosecution Service is currently conducting a criminal investigation into the state of affairs at the Auxiliary Forces Foundation and Relief Goods Alliance. NRC reported on Tuesday that the Public Prosecution Service has expanded the suspicion against Van Lienden, Damme and Van Gestel: in addition to fraud and embezzlement, they are also suspected of money laundering. It is not yet known whether and when the criminal case will come to court.