Lawyer Peter Plasman confirmed on Wednesday after a message from the research platform Follow the Money that he filed a report on behalf of Randstad with the Functional Public Prosecutor’s Office of Amsterdam.
Last year Randstad seconded fifteen employees to the non-profit initiative of Van Lienden and his associates, including for the provision of logistics services. Randstad did not know that the three also had a commercial company with which they earned a lot from supplying mouth masks. ‘If Randstad had known that, they would never have cooperated and provided staff. ‘We don’t earn anything from it’, that’s what they said and that was the reason for Randstad to participate,’ says Plasman.
Van Lienden and his companions became discredited because de Volkskrant revealed in May that they had struck a lucrative face mask deal with the government for more than 100 million euros. They made that deal with a newly founded commercial company, Relief Goods Alliance, and not with their foundation. While they had always said that they would do everything ‘for free’, they themselves together left at least 28 million euros gross from the sale.
Earlier it was said that Plasman would make a report on behalf of volunteers and employees of the Auxiliary Forces Foundation, after they had sent a letter sent in de Volkskrant had let it be known that they felt misled and lied to by Van Lienden, Damme and Van Gestel. That declaration will not be made for the time being, according to Plasman. “They were always a little hesitant. I now understand that they first await the declaration from Randstad.’
Van Lienden argued against de Volkskrant that they were not volunteers at all, but that they were compensated. Nor would they have made any contribution to the commercial deal. According to Plasman, this is not relevant for Randstad. ‘Without the help of the people from Randstad, nothing would have got off the ground. They have worked for everything. For example, a Randstad employee has tested all face masks, including those from the commercial deal.’
Reaction Van Lienden
Van Lienden says in a response that this is ‘not correct’. He also declined to comment on the report. “I’m busy with Deloitte.” Deloitte is investigating the purchase of so-called personal protective equipment on behalf of the government, including the controversial mouth cap deal with Van Lienden.
It is not clear whether more parties are joining Randstad. Coolblue, another company that invested a lot of money and time in the Auxiliary Forces Alliance, says it will not file a report ‘at the moment’. ‘But we are following the situation with Randstad with great attention’, the company says.
Home care organization Buurtzorg, which was also involved in the Auxiliary Troops Alliance, has not yet filed a report. ‘We have made a complete analysis, but that has not yet given us a reason to take similar actions,’ says owner Jos de Blok.
Like Prince Constantijn, Pieter Zwart and KLM Vice-President Adriaan Den Heijer, among others, De Blok was listed as a member of the ‘team of advisers’ of the Auxiliary Troops Alliance in internal documents sent by Van Lienden to the government. “They wanted to use my name to give things a bit of status, but I didn’t advise at all. We have been used to that a bit’, says De Blok. Prince Constantijn, Zwart and Den Heijer previously announced that they were never members of a team of advisors.
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