Small businesses team up with government to detect undermining crime

The government and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are going to work together to find out more details about how the criminal underworld is penetrating the legitimate business world. They want to know more details about how organized crime has infiltrated the highest echelons of business, and the sectors most affected by the issue.

This can help smaller businesses to arm companies against the problem, said Minister of Justice David van Weel and Jacco Vonhof. He is the chair of MKB-Nederland, which is the largest entrepreneurial organization in the Netherlands.

Judicial institutions and the police have been struggling in their fight against undermining criminality. This usually consists of criminal organizations that infiltrate the government, the business world, and civil society to fit their needs.

Cartels can use billions of euros in drug profits, modern weapons, and other means of power to bribe or intimidate citizens, entrepreneurs, and civil servants. Ports, transport companies, and the financial sector deal with it the most, but vulnerabilities exist "across the board", according to the Ministry of Justice.

Van Weel and Vonhof agreed last week to join forces to map out the risks in company sectors, and to use that research to identify weaknesses in the system that criminal interference can go through. “Criminals can only succeed with help from within,” Van Weel stated.

“This requires the government and business being alert about vulnerabilities in processes and functions.”