Raid on builder BAM under investigation by OM

A month after the FIOD raid on Jumbo CEO Frits van Eerd, among others, the Public Prosecution Service and the FIOD tax investigation service again raided a big name from the Dutch business community. The two parties have launched an investigation into “possible irregularities” in some projects of the international branch of construction company BAM, the listed company announced Monday morning. The raid took place on Friday at the head office of BAM International in Gouda. The FIOD confiscated “information”, but no arrests were made, a BAM spokesperson reported. The company would not say what kind of information was included. The Public Prosecution Service only confirms that a “criminal investigation” is underway into BAM International. BAM says it will provide ‘full cooperation’. BAM, based in Bunnik, is one of the largest construction groups in the Netherlands. The listed company last year employed more than 15,500 employees and had a turnover of 7.3 billion euros. The company’s share price fell about 15 percent Monday morning after news of the raid and barely recovered from the blow for the rest of the day. It is not known which projects the investigative services are looking at exactly. BAM International has been present in many different places around the world in recent years. From the construction of the Etihad Arena sports and events hall in Abu Dhabi and the attack on a tunnel with underground stations in Brisbane, Australia, to a landing stage for research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough in Antarctica. Also read: Builder BAM stops outside Europe Too few new projects The construction company announced two years ago that it would stop the division with projects outside Europe. He struggled with “the lack of positive prospects”. Too few new projects presented themselves and BAM lost out to large international competitors that had a lot of clout. Earlier, companies such as VolkerWessels and Heijmans also withdrew from infrastructure projects outside Europe. According to BAM, all international projects have now been completed or transferred to subsidiaries. The company now focuses on the home market of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Former CEO Rob van Wingerden, who led the company for six years until his resignation in April 2020, says he did not receive a visit from the FIOD. “I was not aware of any disturbances at the time.” Another builder, Strukton, also had to deal with a FIOD raid a few years ago. The company of entrepreneur Gerard Sanderink concerned the possible payment of bribes for a metro project in Saudi Arabia. The FD reported a few weeks ago that the Public Prosecution Service would like to prosecute Sanderink for ‘actual leadership of official bribery’ of a Saudi prince. A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of October 18, 2022