A preliminary hearing is scheduled today for the investigation that led the Attorney General's Office last spring of the Netherlands to prosecute the Damen shipbuilding companies Shipyards Gorinchem and Damen Naval Shipyards for corruption, Counterfeiting and money laundering in connection with the sale of ships abroad, with the first company also accused of violation of the Law on Penalties Imposed in Response to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The corruption investigation against Damen Naval Shipyards covers the period between 2006 and January 2017 and is focused on paying commissions to agents used to sell ships abroad that are deemed to be excessively high, and would entail the risk of covering bribes paid to officials of the nations with which commercial relations were maintained. The Prosecutor's Office also disputes the preparation of false documentation to cover these payments and frustrate controls.

Damen expressed disappointment for the long prolongation of this investigation and announced that it plans a legal battle in which he will finally have the opportunity to clarify the groundlessness of the suspicions of the Public Prosecutor's Office. The company has specified that a preliminary hearing will also be held today for a legal dispute, that of the delivery of cranes to Russia in the first half of 2022, which is a completely separate.