Police Chief: spending irregularities due to failed supervision

The case surrounding exorbitant spending by the police's Central Works Council can partly be attributed to solo actioins of former chairman Frank Giltay and partly to failed supervision, Chief of Police Erik Akerboom said during a press conference on Tuesday. According to him, the other members of the CWC did not dare contradict Giltay, who resigned after an investigation was launched into the council's expenses, NOS reports.

The police completed the internal investigation into the CWC spending. Akerboom would not comment on the content of the investigation, but was did reveal the conclusions. Akerboom called the CWC's expense declarations "inefficient and ineffective". He already pressed charges againts Giltay last month.

According to Akerboom, the low point in this whole affair was in December last year, when the CWC had "three meetings that did not fit the image of the CWC. This included an expensive stay at the Amstel hotel in Amsterdam, "including champagne breakfast". Giltay was allowed to do his thing basically undisturbed, Akerboom said. "He was only accountable to the former chief of police, and excluded other CWC members." Which was easy to do. "Only few protested."

There are still transactions amounting into several thousands of euros on Giltay's credit card that haven't been accounted for.

This morning Minsiter Ard van der Steur of Security and Justice launched an independent investigation into what role former police chief Gerard Bouman played in this expense scandal.