Damen Shipyards Accused of Corruption and Sanctions Breach
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Dutch prosecutors said on Friday they had summoned shipbuilder Damen Shipyards on suspicion of violating EU sanctions against Russia and opened a separate case against the company and some of its executives for corruption.
The company denied both sets of accusations. On the sanctions case, it said it had "always acted in accordance with the applicable sanctions packages" and was "surprised that one case from June 2022 is now being submitted to the court".
On the corruption charges, it said it was "confident in the lawsuit, and finally gets the chance to explain the suspicions of the public prosecution service are incorrect".
The inquiry on a possible violation of the Sanctions Act was led by the Dutch customs and focused on goods and technology that could have strengthened the Russian military, based on actions in 2022, prosecutors said in a statement.
In the corruption case, Damen and some of its executives would be prosecuted for suspected bribery, forgery and money laundering when ships were sold abroad over a period running from 2006 to January 2017.
In October 2023, Damen sued the Dutch government over damages it said it had suffered due to European sanctions against Russia.
Family-owned Damen, which employs 12,000 people, is expected to win a large share of the Dutch government's multi-billion euro plans to replace nearly its entire navy fleet in the coming 15 years.
(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing byPeter Graff)
