Millionaire Gerard Sanderink has to pay ex-partner higher amount in libel case | Financial

The court also awarded her on appeal the penalties that the former CEO of construction company Strukton and IT company Centric has to pay for defamation. The Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal also agreed with the increase in the total penalty, because the defamation continued after an earlier judgment.

Sanderink and his ex Brigitte van Egten, the former director of his solar panel company, have been at odds for years. Sanderink accused Van Egten of passing on information to the AIVD, which would subsequently have led to a raid on construction company Strukton. He also accused his former partner of fraud.

Rectification

Van Egten thought this was defamation and demanded rectification. In the case of the AIVD accusation, the judge agreed and ordered Sanderink to pay a penalty. In addition, Sanderink was forbidden to make the accusations again about talking to the intelligence services.

Also on appeal, the court now finds that there was defamation, so the penalty payment remains. Moreover, it has increased because the accusations continued. Sanderink must also post a rectification about fraud allegations. If he spreads another false accusation about Van Egten, the damages can amount to a considerable amount. Every day that Sanderink makes a mistake with his accusations, he has to pay 100,000 euros, up to a maximum of 5 million euros.

Earlier this week, the court ruled in an appeal on a severance payment for Van Egten. This was therefore increased to 100,000 euros, instead of the previously allocated 48,000 euros.

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