The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) has decided to criminally prosecute Damen Shipyards Gorinchem and Damen Naval Shipyards for bribery, forgery and money laundering. This happened around the sale of ships abroad, according to the prosecution. (Former) board members will also be prosecuted for de facto directing these criminal acts.
In addition, the OM decided to sue Damen Shipyards Gorinchem for violating the Sanctions Act. This suspicion relates to the violation of sanctions imposed following the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The two criminal investigations are separate. The bribery investigation was conducted by the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD), focuses on a period from 2006 to January 2017 and involves the payment of high commissions to agents. Those agents were engaged to sell ships to various countries in Africa, Asia and South America.
The payment of commissions creates a substantial risk of paying bribes to officials of the countries with which business was done. Over a series of years, a large quantity of fake documents was presumably drawn up in order to conceal high commission payments to agents and frustrate scrutiny thereof, including in applications for export credit insurance.
The investigation into violation of the Sanctions Act was conducted by the Customs Service and concerns goods and technology that could contribute to Russia’s military and technological strengthening and/or to the development of the defence and security sector. This investigation focuses on a period of several months in the second half of 2022.
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Damen says case is not viable
In a response to Dutch public broadcaster NOS, Damen says that the prosecution ‘does not have a viable case’, but anticipates a long legal battle. ‘The press release from the public prosecutor’s office links past cases (2006-2016) and a recent case surrounding the sanctions legislation (2022). By presenting these cases together, the OM seems to suggest that Damen Shipyards is structurally pushing the boundaries of the law,’ the shipbuilder says.
The shipbuilder stresses it has always acted in accordance with applicable sanctions rules and has been transparent and adds that the prosecution’s sanction case concerns ‘the supply of a very limited quantity of civil cranes to Russia’. Damen says this was done in accordance with the rules.
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Trial in second half of this year
The trial will presumably be able to start with a pre-trial hearing in the second half of this year. The prosecution is consulting with the court and the defence for a date.
If Damen Shipyards is found guilty, under European procurement rules it will be banned from competing for government orders for four years.
Picture: Damen Shipyards Gorinchem (© S.J. de Waard / CC-BY-SA-4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)).
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