Former CEO Ballast Nedam must enter the cell

Former director Martin W. of the Ballast Nedam construction company is to enter the cell. The 74-year-old man was sentenced to two months in prison by the Utrecht court Tuesday and conditionally ten months – more than the twelve months that the prosecutor had demanded. He must also pay 100,000 euros fine and return more than five million euros obtained illegally.

The judge found W. guilty of laundering a bribe for two million euros. The money was intended to corrupt influential Saudis, including members of the royal family. But W. is made a part of himself thanks to an intermediary agent. W. stole the bribe from his own company. The punishment he receives is not for the bribe itself, because it is forbidden, but for money laundering.

The other suspect, former director Robby A., 70, was being tried for the same facts. He also reportedly refused bribes for jobs in Saudi Arabia and Suriname. But money laundering was only sanctioned in 2001. And because the money was no longer on Robby A. 's account, he is free.

The former Ballast Nedam file, with SBM Offshore and Vimpelcom, is one of the largest corruption cases in the Netherlands. In Saudi Arabia, Ballast Nedam paid hundreds of millions of euros in bribes between 1996 and 2003 in exchange for, among other things, the renovation of two airports. In Suriname, it was the construction of two bridges. Ballast Nedam organized the case in 2012 for 17.5 million euros. Partly because of this settlement, the court found last April that the Crown did not have the right to sue the three KPMG auditors involved.