Hague corruption trial opens after four-year probe into Groep de Mos

The leader of the Hague city council’s largest political party, Richard De Mos, will go on trial on Monday for illicitly benefiting a businessman who funded his independent group. He is on trial in Rotterdam along with two political colleagues and five local businessmen who donated a total of €110,000 to Groep de Mos, also known as voor Den Haag.

Prosecutors say Mr. Demos was rewarded with preferential treatment in his capacity as City Councilor and City Councilor. The party won eight of his 45 seats in local elections last year, but was left out of coalition talks, partly because of a corruption probe that has been running since 2019.

De Mos and his colleague Rachid Guernaoui, one of seven co-defendants, are aldermen (administrators) in the coalition that runs the council after the 2018 elections, with Groep de Mos as the leading party. was appointed to Other political parties withdrew their support after police raided his Groep de Mos office and De Mos home in October 2019, forcing the two men to resign.

confidential document

The 51-page indictment alleges that in economic affairs, outdoor spaces, and in his role as a city-centre alderman, Demos gave his supporters access to a draft parliamentary plan, violating official secrecy. It contains the claim that

He said he first informed Atilla Akyol, the former owner of the city center opera venue and co-defendant in the case, that a number of late-night licenses were about to be issued in the city center. It is First-come, first-served basis. “I need to submit my application immediately, after which I have arranged a 10-year night license,” De Mos told his Akyol over the phone, the records of which he obtained from Nieuwsuur. bottom.

Akyol and his brother Erdinç donated a total of €40,000 to Groep de Mos, the businessman said in the documentary Napels aan de Noordzee (“Naples on the North Sea”) produced by Powned.

De Mos also unveiled secret plans for a €200 million cultural center called Amare in the summer of 2018, before being unveiled by the council in the summer of 2018, in collaboration with Edwin Jansen and Michel Zaadhof. It is said to have been shared with

criminal organization

Prosecutors have charged eight defendants with forming a criminal organization by using Demos and Gernauy’s positions to secure public works.

De Mos vehemently denied any wrongdoing and described the investigation as “an assassination of a political character on an unprecedented scale.” He questioned why it took nearly four years for the investigation to go to court, and vowed to clear his name. I am very happy and I am confident that we will have good results,” he said.

Over the weekend, De Mos filed a formal complaint with police after his criminal case files were leaked to the media. In 2021, he published a book, Mijn Verhaal (“My Story”), in which he refuted allegations of corruption and attacked his former colleagues and colleagues who testified against him.

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Photo: DutchNews.nl – Richard Demos campaigning in The Hague in 2022.