Bribery charges against ex-VVD politician detailed

Jos van Rey. the former VVD politician who stepped down in 2012 following suspicions that he accepted substantial bribes from a project developer, is also facing charges for corruption, accepting bribes and election fraud.

According to the indictment Piet van Pol, the project developer splurged on Van Rey with trips to realty fairs in Munich and Cannes, football matches in Switzerland and Germany and to his (Van Pol’s) vacation home in France. Van Rey returned the favor by giving him privileged information and making sure he won bids at substantially higher prices than normally.

Van Rey allegedly also accepted bribes from a security company (Red Security) from Roermond and a real estate company (Meulen Groep) from Weert. He provided each with access to privileged information.

The Prosecutor’s Office slapped the former alderman with a detailed indictment containing seven charges, including charges for corruption, election fraud and laundering €175,000.

The election fraud indictment charges that he conscripted votes for the municipal council of Roermond, the Second Chamber and the Provincial States from 2010 to 2012. The first criminal investigation into his activities started in the summer of 2012; after police raided his house and the townhall off Roermond on October 19 2012, he quit as alderman and senator.

Hearings in the criminal cases against him, Piet van Pol and fellow suspect and former alderman Tilman Schreurs, start next week in Rotterdam.