Fmr. National Police chief Bouman suffers heart attack in U.S.

Gerard Bouman, the former chief of the National Police, suffered a heart attack while vacationing in the United States. The 64-year-old man is currently in an American hospital, the police announced on Sunday. Bouman's condition is unclear, but his daughter is with him, a police source said to newspaper AD.

Current National Police Chief Erik Akerboom said that he is shocked by the news and wished Bouman and his family strength. Minister Stef Blok of Security and Justice expressed similar sentiments.

Bouman was the National Police's first chief and served in the position between 2013 and early 2016. He is subject to an investigation into exorbitant spending by the police's Central Works Council. The results of the investigation, which was done by a committee led by Maarten Ruys, was set to be presented on Tuesday. But given Bouman's heart attack, the committee decided to postpone this.

"In view of Mr. Bouman's health situation, we do not think it appropriate to present the investigation now", a spokesperson for the Ruys committee said to broadcaster NOS on Monday.

According to newspaper AD, various sources report that the committee is very critical of Bouman's role in the Central Works Council's spending habits. He gave the council a massive 1.6 million euros annual budget, failed to supervise the council and had an too intimate relationship with COR chairman Frank Giltay, the committee concluded, according to the newspaper. However, there is no evidence that Bouman bribed the committee to make decisions he found favorable.