Dutch asylum agency seeks 184.7 million euro from ex-hotel partner

The Dutch Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers has filed a 184.7 million euro damages claim against entrepreneur René Derksen and his company LCHD, FD reports.

For years, Derksen’s firm acted as an intermediary for the agency, booking hotel rooms across the Netherlands to house asylum seekers. The massive claim — one of the largest ever filed by a Dutch government body against a private company — stems from a dispute over how LCHD performed that work and how the rental agreements were ended.

The claim became public after the COA placed a court-ordered seizure on Derksen’s residential farm in Didam, Gelderland, at the end of June. The agency has launched legal proceedings against LCHD and its directors.

A COA spokesperson confirmed the lawsuit but declined to provide more details while the case is before the court.

“A dispute has arisen between LCHD and COA regarding the execution of the assignment by LCHD and the termination of rental agreements,” the spokesperson told FD.