Criminal file Richard de Mos contains ‘serious facts’

ANP

Gert Jansen

news reporter

Gert Jansen

news reporter

Nieuwsuur is in possession of the complete criminal file in the criminal case against Richard de Mos, former alderman of The Hague. De Mos will stand trial with seven others from Monday on charges of forming two criminal organizations, official corruption and violating professional secrecy.

The file, which the Public Prosecution Service has compiled, contains a lot of solid evidence for criminal acts, says Professor of Constitutional Law Wim Voermans at Leiden University. “I saw De Mos as a new, fresh, hard-working politician, but that image has changed after reading this file. These are serious facts that have been charged. Justice has sorted this out well, there has been no fantasizing. not looking good.”

Justice thinks that three real estate and two catering entrepreneurs from The Hague have had a preferential position in exchange for donations totaling 113,000 euros to De Mos’s party. They would have received confidential information about future real estate projects, could have influenced municipal policy and received two night exemptions for their catering business.

Emailed after six minutes

In exchange for their donations, the real estate entrepreneurs received a lot of confidential information about future real estate projects from aldermen De Mos and his colleague Rachid Gernaoui, the OM notes in the file. Immediately during the coalition negotiations, the entrepreneurs were emailed a confidential conversation report of the first round of talks led by scout Hans Wiegel.

Six minutes after De Mos received the confidential report, he e-mailed it to the real estate entrepreneurs. “The Penal Code says that a civil servant, councilor or alderman may not pass on confidential documents to third parties. That is punishable by law and that is not allowed,” said Voermans.

According to De Mos, it is very common to act as sounding boards during negotiations. And has been stamped ‘confidential’ by “an overzealous official”. “You can see from everything that the Public Prosecution Service has not eaten any cheese from the political mores,” said De Mos.

Below you can see the document and the email in which the confidential document was added:

News hour

News hour

The file also contains an extensive explanation of the course of a council debate on the so-called ‘Woonagenda’, in which the real estate entrepreneurs provide a speech text to a council member of Groep de Mos. This after De Mos had instructed the councilor to sound boards with the entrepreneur via an app.

The council member literally reads the text from A to Z, to the surprise of the real estate entrepreneurs, according to an intercepted e-mail. “What do you think; he literally spoons out the text that I quickly wrote down yesterday. Fine in itself, but it seems like an illiterate person with reading problems, because it doesn’t come out of his mouth forcefully,” writes the donor of Groep de Mos to his real estate colleagues.

Here’s the excerpt from the email:

News hour

A passage from the email

Peter Bos, councilor for the Haagse Stadsfeest for eight years, reads this passage from the justice file with surprise, “This is very special, and I think it raises the necessary questions. Especially if it happens because the developer wants something in return for his donations. That is very bad, of course.”

According to De Mos, his party often collects good ideas from entrepreneurs, and they are then used for policy that benefits everyone.

nod yes

The file also contains many tapped conversations and intercepted text messages about the granting of five night exemptions for catering establishments.

According to the Public Prosecution Service, De Mos did everything he could to get a few exemptions to one of his major sponsors, Atilla Akyol, the owner of the Opera venue.

If officials propose to include as a condition for the exemption that no houses may be present within a radius of 200 meters from the catering facility due to possible nuisance, De Mos will have that condition deleted with some emphasis.

As a witness to the judiciary, an official involved stated: “In a staff meeting, which also included the managers and so on, just to be clear, Richard said: ‘No, that arrangement of those houses, it just has to be removed.’ And then everyone nodded yes. Well, if everyone nods yes.”

Fixed

Justice also tapped a telephone conversation between De Mos and the owner of the conference centre, two and a half hours before the decision was announced to the world. First, De Mos talks about the initial opposition of then mayor Pauline Krikke (VVD), who was already in dire straits because of her role in the bonfires in Scheveningen that got out of hand during the turn of the year. “And I have now said: if you continue to be annoying, then I will no longer support you, then you are no longer mayor, so hurry up, so.”

And about the permit: “I can issue five. Then it’s whoever gets it first, first served. So you will receive the application this afternoon in your app. And then you have to apply immediately and then I have a night permit for ten years for you arranged,” said De Mos in the tapped telephone conversation.

Then you come very close to bribery.

professor of constitutional law Wim Voermans

According to Voermans, De Mos is about this: “De Mos is very active, puts great pressure on the withdrawal of the 200-meter condition, because that is of great importance to his donor. And if you also ensure that this entrepreneur gets to hear this confidential information earlier than other entrepreneurs? Yes, then that feeds the suspicion of punishable things. Then you come very close to bribery.”

De Mos himself sees no harm in the phone call with Akyol. “Can I give him a call after years of fighting for those night waivers? When it’s finally done. I was very proud that we did it, yes.”

Solid evidence

But according to Voermans, the file has been carefully and firmly constructed. “The Public Prosecution Service says that there is a select group of entrepreneurs here who have donated heavily to the party. And they seem to get things done to order. And solid evidence for this is provided in this file.”

De Mos says he assumes an acquittal. “I am happy that the case is finally going to court. And I have a rock solid confidence in a good outcome.”

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