Retail Pension Fund sues former BCC directors for €7.5 Million in unpaid premiums

The Retail Pension Fund is suing the former directors of the bankrupt electronics retailer BCC, accusing the company of underpaying pension contributions. It is seeking 7.5 million euros in unpaid premiums, according to a bankruptcy report highlighted earlier by RTL Z.

Trustees Joris Lensink and Thijs Hekman report that the retail-sector pension fund accuses BCC’s former directors of acting unlawfully. The trustees say they requested additional details from the fund but were not provided with further information.

The pension fund is also seeking to hold directors of BCC’s parent company, Mirage Retail Group (MRG), liable. MRG filed for bankruptcy last December, shortly after its other subsidiary, Blokker, collapsed.

The specific directors involved have not been identified, though RTL Z reports that they may include MRG executives Michiel Witteveen and Ynse Stapert, as well as BCC director Caspar Klinkhamer.

It previously came to light that BCC had withheld pension contributions from the paychecks of about 1,000 employees for more than a year but never forwarded the money. When the company collapsed, the pension fund had no way to reclaim the missing millions.

The fact that BCC went so long without paying pension contributions, particularly given its large workforce, was highly unusual and sparked significant concern among employees at the time.