Prosecutors want former Big Bazar owner to spend a year in prison for shady practices

Prosecutors want to see the former owner of bargain retail chain Big Bazar, Heerke Kooistra, spend a year in prison for various crimes, including poor record keeping. The department which handles complex fraud and asset seizures within the Public Prosecution Service (OM) confirmed this on Thursday after initial reporting by the Leeuwarder Courant.

The entrepreneur is suspected of violating requirements about the handling of company administration and bookkeeping for several of his private limited companies, known in the Netherlands as a besloten vennootschap, or BV. Many documents were missing, and investigators allege that some items were deliberately withheld and not provided to the tax autorities.

His case was brought before the District Court in Zwolle on Thursday. During arguments, the prosecutor announced a recommendation for a guilty verdict with a sentence of 18 months in prison, of which six may be suspended if Kooistra meets certain conditions.

Kooistra bought the struggling Big Bazar in 2021 from Mirage Retail Group, the failing parent company of Blokker. Big Bazar had been struggling with financial problems for some time before it was declared bankrupt in September 2023. At the time, more and more complaints were piling up about unpaid invoices.

In the months leading up to the bankruptcy, the Big Bazar made several attempts to save the company from ruin. The company made requests for a debt expert to be appointed to the case to help put things in order, but those attempts did not yield any results.