Whistleblower Ad Bos no longer persecuted
Whistleblower Ad Bos is finally freed from prosecution, after twelve years. The Amsterdam court put an end to the case against the 65-year-old Bos on Monday, by declaring the public prosecution inadmissible.The prosecution had requested the court to come to this decision, because the case no longer served a purpose, and it had already gone on for too long. In addition, the prosecutions recognized the social importance of Bos as a whistleblower.
Bos responded relieved, but calm, Monday, saying he still had to process the course of events, but he was happy, and would celebrate.
The whistleblower does not rule out initiating a lawsuit to seek compensation for the legal expenses. He needs time to adjust to the idea of no longer being a suspect, after twelve years. In a few weeks he will consider any further steps, according to Bos to NU.nl.
Ad Bos was the whistleblower in the so-called building fraud affair. He possessed parallel bookkeeping accounts of road construction company Koop Tjuchem, which he used to expose the extensive construction fraud in 2001.
Bos was found guilty in 2005 , but was not sentenced. The prosecution appealed, and in 2010 the Court in The Hague concluded that Bos had not had a fair trial and forbade further prosecution. The prosecution then went to the Supreme Court , and the matter was referred to the Amsterdam court.
Because of his role as a whistleblower, Bos, who was a member of management at Koop Tjuchem, lost his job. With no income, he and his wife lived in an RV for some time. In 2009 Bos reached an agreement on compensation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The whistleblower had claimed more than 10 million euros. The amount eventually paid out, was not disclosed.
