NS to be prosecuted for fraud, forgery

The Dutch judiciary will prosecute NS and several former executives at the railway company and its subsidiaries over irregularities in the procurement of public transport in Limburg, a spokesperson for the Public  Prosecutor confirmed to NU.nl.

The main suspects in this case are NS Groep NV and one of its former directors, a director of Abellio, two directors of QBuzz and an external consultant. They are facing charges of forgery, bribery and violating commercial secrets for the procurement of Limburg public transport.

An investigation into suspected embezzlement in this tender was launched last summer. In total the authorities investigated 20 concessions and contracts obtained between January 1st, 2010 and April of this year involving companies Qbuzz, Abellio and NS.

In a reaction NS stated that it fully cooperated in the investigation. "It is now up to the courts to give a legal opinion on whether there were criminal offenses with the tender in Limburg." NS CEO Roger van Boxtel points out that the company itself announced that the tender was not done right and that NS intervened immediately after the irregularities came to light.