Prosecutor: Fmr VVD politician "caught up" in world of bribery, corruption

Former VVD politician Jos van Rey landed himself in a world of cronyism, bribery and corruption, the Public Prosecutor said in court on Tuesday in the formulation of the sentence demand against Van Rey. "It appears that the suspect got caught up in his own success and lost feeling for what can and can not be", the prosecutor said, ANP reports.

Van Rey is in facing trial in the court of Rotterdam on charges of corruption, electoral fraud and money laundering. The Public Prosecutor acknowledged that Van Rey did some good as alderman of Roermond, but also caused the city a lot of financial damage with his actions.

The formulation of the sentence demand will take the whole day. The actual demand is expected around 6:00 p.m.

Van Rey used to be a politician for the VVD. For the party he was a councilor and alderman in Roermond, a member of the provincial council in Limburg and a member of the Dutch Senate and Parliament. The VVD kicked Van Rey out because of the various allegations against him.

The former VVD'er is accused of breaking confidentiality as part of a confidential advisory committee during the appointment of a new Roermond mayor in 2012. He gave interview questions to his favorite candidate Ricardo Offermans. During a raid on his home in October 2012, numerous copies of proxy forms and similar information were found. Collecting proxy votes is illegal.

Van Rey is also accused of accepting bribes from his friend and project developer Piet van Pol, recruiting votes for elections and laundering 175 thousand euros.

The Rotterdam court is expected to rule on this case at the end of June.