Four Rolex watches. Phones. More than 46,000 euros in cash. On 9 March 2021, the police made a special find in a house in Breda at the now 37-year-old Mustapha M., a trainee lawyer in Breda. The search is taking place because of an investigation into large-scale cocaine trafficking and money laundering. A year after the discovery, March 2022, the criminal lawyer is arrested.
Shortly after the search, the Public Prosecution Service sent a message to Lex Lensink, the dean of the Bar Association in Zeeland-West-Brabant: “During the investigation, it became clear that the suspect used so-called crypto telephones. It is known that these devices are widely used within the criminal world to shield communication.”
A month before the arrest, February 2022, Mustapha M. walked through the Breda court in a toga. He assisted a Tilburger who was suspected of supplying and maintaining equipment for criminals’ drug labs throughout the country. In recent years, the police and the Public Prosecution Service have been actively dismantling criminal networks that produce and supply boilers. In the end, M.’s client was sentenced this year to three years in prison.
For years, the Breda law world has had great doubts about the integrity of lawyer M. Since 2013, three successive deans – who supervise the legal profession – have been trying to prevent M. from working as a lawyer, according to conversations. However, it took until April of this year before Mustapha M. was suspended as a lawyer after he was arrested in the criminal investigation into large-scale cocaine trafficking. In the previous years, he was able to make use of privileges that are essential for carrying out the legal profession, such as the right of nondisclosure and a telephone line that cannot be tapped. Privileges that can be very interesting for criminals.
law degree
It is May 2013 when the then dean Emilie van Empel of the Zeeland-West-Brabant region receives a request to be sworn in. Mustapha M., then 29 years old, completed his law degree three months earlier. If a lawyer wishes to become active in a particular district, he or she must submit a request to the local Bar Association.
Van Empel, now retired, is studying the background of M. He was born in Breda and was convicted by a police judge in 2005 for possession of hard drugs, resisting arrest and insulting an official in office, according to the verdict. . He will receive 180 hours of community service and must pay compensation of 250 euros.
Later on, the Breda lawyer Bart V. becomes his counsel, Van Empel recalls. “Mustapha M. was so impressed by his lawyer that he had the dream of becoming a lawyer himself. He decided to study and in 2009 got a job with Bart V. as a legal assistant during his studies.”
When M. has completed his studies in 2013 and asks to be sworn in to work as a trainee lawyer, Van Empel thinks it is too early. His criminal conviction is too recent, she judges. “We discussed that with the whole Council at the time” [tien advocaten] of the Bar Association. We didn’t think it was a good idea. At that time, he had received a Certificate of Good Conduct.” Mustapha M. gets the message ‘do your job as a legal assistant and try again later’, says Van Empel. “I said: show what you’re worth and come back in five years. And he has done that.”
The office where M. works as a legal assistant does not have a good reputation. For years, lawyers tell NRC, there are rumors of dubious practices by Bart V. This ranges from ‘taking away’ customers to involvement in drug trafficking. Mustapha M. hardly stands out as a legal assistant in those years. Bart V. says that Mustapha M. has worked for several employees of his office, and has always made a good effort. “The reason that he is now in detention is not with me or my office.”
A warned man
In the summer of 2017, Bart V. sees a police car stop in front of him in an Amsterdam residential area. He is being arrested. ‘Breda lawyer arrested for trafficking in weapons and drugs’ headlines Omroep Brabant. At the end of 2018, the court sentenced him to three years in prison. He’s arranged guns and weed for an undercover cop. As a lawyer, he abused his special position in the legal system, the court ruled. And: the lawyer’s actions would have damaged confidence in the legal profession. Bart V. is removed from the tableau as a lawyer.
The dean dealing with Bart V.’s case is Lex Lensink. He recalls that Mustapha M. also played a part in the lawyer’s practice. “He assisted V. in lawsuits as a legal assistant, and he looked into things. In everything I saw then: this man is very intertwined with the world of his employer.” According to Lensink, it would be difficult for M. not to follow in his employer’s footsteps, because M. has had Bart V. as an example for almost ten years.
The fact that his employer has been arrested for drug and arms trafficking does not prevent the 33-year-old Mustapha from submitting another request for sworn in in 2018. Lensink remembers that this request did not give a good feeling. “At the time we thought: this is not a good idea. It was clear to me at the time: if this person becomes a lawyer, integrity risks may arise.” There is no rock-solid evidence for this, Lensink acknowledges. “Call it fingerspitzengefühl.”
The Zeeland-West-Brabant Bar Association refuses to handle the request for swearing in, because of the fear that Mustapha M. will infringe laws and regulations applicable to lawyers. M. goes to the highest disciplinary court, the Court of Discipline.
On 30 November 2018, the court ruled that the public order’s fears were unfounded. In fact, it is precisely because of his legal employment history that M. is ‘a forewarned man’. He will be registered on the tableau from February 2019. During the first three years, M. will work and be trained as a trainee lawyer.
Almost immediately, from September 2019, reports to the police follow. M. would, along with three others, including his brother Mohamed, be active in the cocaine trade. An investigation will follow, which will result in the discovery of the Rolexes and telephones in March 2021. Dean Lex Lensink is kept informed by e-mail by the chief officer of Zeeland-West-Brabant. Then it also becomes clear that Mustapha M. was in a car at the end of 2020 that was checked by the police near the German border. Agents found an amount of 100,000 euros under the clothes of M.’s traveling companion. He states that M. has nothing to do with it, but the chief officer reports it to the dean anyway, because the money was clearly visible to M..
No hard evidence
That is enough for Lensink. He wants to have Mustapha M. suspended indefinitely. “I thought: this far and no further,” says Lensink, “because all those things are not usual for a lawyer. All signals were red for me.” But the Council of Discipline thinks otherwise. There is insufficient evidence of serious suspicions of criminal acts. Mustapha M. is allowed to remain a lawyer, and in the following months represents various clients. He wins a case at the Council of State against the municipality of Tilburg, assists suspects in extradition cases and in a murder case.
It is a dilemma within the current supervision, say the three last deans of the Order in Zeeland-West Brabant. Action can only be taken if there is really hard evidence from, for example, a criminal investigation.
I will do whatever it takes to get this gentleman out of the legal profession
Taco van der Dussen blanket in Zeeland-West-Brabant
But, says Emilie van Empel, „signals are not only concrete matters that arise, but also own experiences and feelings. But because of the regulations you can sometimes do too little with it.”
Shorter lines
The discussion about supervision of the legal profession is also being held nationally. Minister Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection, D66) says in a letter to the House of Representatives that supervision of the legal profession must be regulated nationally. According to the minister, the arrest of Youssef T., a former lawyer and cousin of Ridouan Taghi, shows that there is a “real risk” that lawyers could become involved in organized crime. The Public Prosecution Service has “an important responsibility” in this regard as far as investigation and prosecution are concerned, the minister writes.
The East Brabant dean Jan Frederik Schnitzler, national portfolio holder undermining, believes that the cooperation between the deans and the Public Prosecution Service can be improved. According to him, that was the conclusion after an evaluation between the Public Prosecution Service and the deans, after the case of Youssef T. “Those lines must be shorter, there must be confidence that the information will not just end up on the street. We have to make sure that the Public Prosecution Service informs the blankets sooner. The problem is often that we sometimes receive signals, but need real information from the Public Prosecution Service in order to intervene.”
Also read this article about the arrest of Youssef T.: “Where are all those wrong lawyers then?”
Schnitzler says he supports national oversight of the legal profession, but local blankets should not be sidelined. “If you throw local supervision overboard, you will miss signals about unscrupulous lawyers. That is dangerous.”
Image of the legal profession
In the case of Mustapha M., it became clear at the beginning of this year how serious the suspicions are. Analyzes of conversations with crypto telephones attributed to M. by the police show that he maintains frequent contacts related to drug trafficking. He would have used three telephones with which appointments are made, photos of logos on blocks of drugs are forwarded and addresses of drivers are passed on. M. himself also appears at appointments, according to the criminal investigation. It is sufficient for a suspension of M. as a lawyer, but only after his arrest.
August 15, a request for removal will be considered by the Council of Discipline. Last week, the Rotterdam court decided at the preliminary session of the criminal case that M. remains in pre-trial detention. According to Taco van der Dussen, the current dean in Zeeland-West-Brabant, he was given access to the criminal file through the Public Prosecution Service, so that he could submit details from M.’s case to the disciplinary court. If it is up to Van der Dussen, M’s career as a lawyer will come to an end. „This gentleman has damaged the entire image of the legal profession. He doesn’t belong there. I will do whatever it takes to get this gentleman out of the legal profession.”
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of 13 July 2022