Dutch Ship Firm Kept Fees Secret

(Bahamas Tribune, Nassau, 12 November 2019) The Dutch company that supplied nine Royal Bahamas Defence Force vessels, Damen Shipyard Group, misrepresented to the Dutch government how much it paid a foreign intermediary that worked on the project. The World Bank disbarred Damen for 18 months in 2016 for failing to disclose an agent and the amount of commissions due to the agent. The Dutch government then temporarily suspended Damen from accessing its export credit insurance. Dutch Secretary of Finance Wopke Hoekstra said ADSB subsequently conducted an investigation and found 14 cases where Damen gave “insufficient or incorrect information in respect of paid agency commissions.” Damen’s project with The Bahamas was one of these cases. Dutch investigators believe Damen paid 12 percent of its contract with the Bahamian government to NSG Management & Technical Services Ltd as commissions. It is not clear what NSG’s work on the project involved. Dutch investigators are said to be examining whether Damen allegedly bribed foreign officials in multiple jurisdictions through their foreign agents. NSG is said to be at the centre of its inquiry.