Police release top Dutch business exec held over corruption claim

Dutch lawyer and business executive Peter Wakkie, who was arrested in Spain on Monday, was released from custody. Wakkie was arrested on Monday morning and released at 00:30 a.m. on Tuesday, after the Spanish authorities were through with questioning him, a spokesperson for the businessman in the Netherlands said to ANP after making contact with the man.

Wakkie, also a former commissioner of ABN Amro and former director at Ahold, was arrested on Monday morning upon his arrival at the Madrid airport. He was there for his role as interim director of Russian-Spanish telecommunications company Zed+. He was appointed interim director by the Enterprise chamber of the Amsterdam court in 2015 due to a dispute between the company's Russian and Spanish shareholders. The Amsterdam court handled the matter as Zed+ is based in the Netherlands, for tax purposes, according to NOS.

According to Spanish news site El Confidencial, Wakkie was arrested in connection with suspicion of bribery. The Spanish authorities believe that millions of euros were paid to relatives of the Russian government through Zed+. Wakkie's lawyers deny these charges vehemently, according to broadcaster NOS. They state that Wakkie was in Madrid to talk to potential investors in Zed+.