The bankrupt D-Reizen puzzles curator Ton Tekstra. Tens of millions of euros in prepaid holidays have disappeared without a trace. For example, around 9 million euros from tour operator TUI is ‘lost’. Smaller travel companies are also affected. The hunt for the lost money is in full swing. More about this in the AD.
It is suspected that tens of millions of euros in prepaid holidays are used for other things, such as to repay loans to shareholders, advisors, rent of premises, IT and personnel costs. De Telegraaf reports this on the basis of information from insiders.
The ‘hunt for the lost millions’ is in full swing, according to the newspaper, because the trustee is still investigating the estate of parent company D-rt Group.
There were various cash flows in the bankruptcy. First of all, the prepaid money from customers who had already paid for a holiday when the corona crisis broke out. D-Reizen then gave these customers vouchers to keep as much money as possible in cash because of their own dire financial situation.
Earlier, during the lawsuit of D-rt Group (parent company of D-Reizen) against SGR and the Dutch State in March, it was already announced that the travel agency had issued vouchers worth approximately 42 million euros. D-Reizen also issued their own vouchers against the rules.
In addition to these customers, tour operators and airlines, who were going to refund vouchers for canceled trips, transferred money to D-trips because the travel agency maintained the customer contact. For example, KLM paid back 4 million euros via Airtrade.
According to De Telegraaf, D-rt Group held its own for a long time due to a ‘substantial credit’ from the then shareholder Raiffeisen Touristik Group (RTG). According to an insider, it is likely that customers’ money was used to repay RTG’s credit.
‘The D-rt Group has played roulette with money from customers. D-Reizen demonstrably did not transfer the money from airlines, but used it for other purposes. That is bad and punishable in my world ‘, says Hendrik Noorderhaven of EUclaim, on behalf of a few thousand private individuals.
In a response, curator Tekstra says that the investigation into refunds will only take place later because the bidding process for the sale of (parts of) D-Reizen is now underway.
SRG director Erik Jan Reuver says that ‘It has now turned out that working with intermediaries with regard to customers’ money is a very vulnerable system.’ This is likely to change in the future and payment will have to be made through a trust account or direct payment to the tour operator. The travel world will not want to experience this misuse of customer money with all the damage as a result.
Millions of euros without a trace #DReizen: the curator will find out whether money has been secretly diverted https://t.co/fW2yHdj030
– Hubert De Meulder (@HubertDeMeulder) April 30, 2021
