Rico Verhoeven and manager accused of threatening former business partner in Amsterdam

A former business partner has accused kickboxer Rico Verhoeven and his manager Karim Erja of making threats. The report was filed with the police on Tuesday by Tibor Koppers, a businessman and bodybuilder, said his attorney, Esther Vroegh. Koppers was "threatened in such an intimidating manner during the opening of an exhibition in the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam that a report was necessary," said Vroegh.

The incident happened on May 30 at the opening of the Martial Arts exhibit in the museum, formerly known as the Tropenmuseum. It was related to a business conflict, Vroegh confirmed after reports about the dispute were published by Het Parool and De Telegraaf.

Koppers had brought in Verhoeven as the face of his nutritional supplement company, High End Nutrition Supplements. That company has since gone bankrupt, which was followed by a series of lawsuits.

The parties met in the Wereldmuseum. Erja said that he saw Verhoeven "speak sternly" to Koppers in an adjacent room, at which point the manager joined them. A discussion ensued about blame for a "financial mess," "admitting mistakes" and "apologizing like a man," said Erja.

That conversation was said to have taken place under the watchful eye of two security guards from the museum, during which Koppers was "absolutely not threatened or intimidated." Afterwards, the boxer and manager left for another part of the museum, Erja claimed.

The manager says he heard about the attempt to press charges against him and Verhoeven through the media on Friday. Erja accused Koppers of using the media to go after Verhoeven in an attempt to make Koppers look like the better person.

The manager and kickboxer are "confidently looking forward to [handling] the report" against them. They are also considering "their own steps against this man" using their own lawyer.