Employment agency Randstad today filed a complaint against Sewert van Linden, Bernd Dam, and Camille van Gestel, founders of the Auxiliary Alliance Foundation. Randstad confirms this after reporting by Follow the Money (FTM).
Attorney Peter Plasmann will report the fraud to the Public Prosecution Office in Amsterdam this afternoon. “They made the employees available for free, says Randstad, because they thought the gentlemen were working on a nonprofit project of community service.”
Last year, Randstad provided fifteen employees with the nonprofit initiative that brought face masks to the Netherlands. Randstad’s chief legal officer told FTM that it was not known at the time that the three had made a profit of €20 million.
Staff provided by Randstad were involved, among other things, in the recruitment of new people, testing of mouth coverings and logistics for the Auxiliary Forces Alliance. The recruitment agency paid them, assuming the organization was not for profit. But without their knowledge, according to Randstad, the employees took part in the commercial activities of Relief Goods Alliance, which brought in profits.
Return the money to the country
“We were involved in this from the start, because we thought it was a non-profit initiative to provide health care with face masks,” says Patrick van der Herberg, chief legal officer. “Everyone did it thinking everything was a non-profit. It also led to an amazing collaboration on that group. You can imagine it came as a shock to us when we found out last May that millions had just been made. We think it’s not true, Then you have to do something.”
Randstad asked Van Linden, Dam, and Van Gestel to pay the government millions, but they didn’t want to. The FTM reported that Randstad made an initial claim in the summer for between €100,000 and €150,000 for the hours the 15 employees worked. That money should have gone to a good cause, and Randstad will discuss this with the three entrepreneurs in November.
However, in mid-October, Plasman announced that he would file a report on behalf of five people involved, after which another seven submitted a report to Plasman. They did not advance this report and Randstad says she is now dealing with the challenge. The company believes that Plasman’s announcement is more in line with actual use, that is, all funds should be returned to the state.
planted in it
The FTM reports that Randstad is not currently filing a civil suit. “We don’t really care about money in the first place, but we think it should come from the pockets of these three gentlemen,” says van der Herberg. “We consider it our responsibility because we inadvertently put our people in this position.”
According to Plasman, the feelings of Randstad employees also play a role in the decision to report the crime. “They put in many hours of effort to get this project done. They still worry they lost it. Randstad feels responsible for that.”
