Woest NVWA is conducting a criminal investigation into Babboe

AMERSFOORT – In a new report on Babboe’s actions, RTL News reports that Babboe seriously misled the Dutch NVWA about the breaking cargo bikes, including by deliberately hiding frames from inspections.

RTL relies on photos, audio recordings, documents and conversations with former employees. In response to RTL’s findings, the NVWA says it is shocking and downright shocking that people’s safety has been seriously undermined.

As a concrete example, the investigative editors of RTKL News refer to Wednesday morning, September 15, 2021. The NVWA had announced that it would come to inspect at 10:00 am, because they continue to receive complaints, despite the recall in the summer of 2019. Babboe employees would according to RTL’s sources, have been instructed to hide broken bicycles in vans early in the morning. “We had to empty the entire workshop. We loaded those frames into a van and the scrap metal bin as well. Everything that the NVWA was not allowed to see was hidden and that was a success,” said a former employee, who can be heard in the broadcast through a distorted voice. “Things have happened in the past that are not right. (…) I have also, here, eh, lugged frames away and pushed them into containers or into buses of, of mechanics, while the control came to keep things calm.”

According to RTL Nieuws, six employees confirmed that they had hidden bicycles for an NVWA inspection. Subsequently, other former employees, who did not actively hide items, stated that they were aware of it because they were present during the instructions from management.

At that time, Chiem de Winter was managing director at Babboe and Ton Anbeek was CEO of Accell Group, which had fully acquired Babboe producer Velosophy from Epco Vlugt.

“If things are withheld, we cannot do our work. That is undermining and bad,” says NVWA spokesperson Bjorn Elsebrock. “What we can confirm is that a criminal investigation is underway,” says the NVWA spokesperson. This investigation is carried out by the regulator’s own investigation service, the Intelligence and Investigation Service (IOD) and the Public Prosecution Service. “This should show whether the findings actually happened.”

Accell Group responds to the new revelations from RTL Nieuws in a statement.

“We immediately started an in-depth investigation after the first RTL broadcast. As previously communicated, we want to get to the bottom of the matter. Quality and safety are always number 1. We believe it is important that signals from employees and customers are taken seriously and lead to the right actions. This should have been done more alertly and better in the past.

If these new signals from 2019 are correct, we also strongly disapprove of them and distance ourselves from them. It is now policy and practice that we actively and transparently participate in the NVWA investigation. That fits with the values ​​we stand for. By integrating Babboe into Accell Group, Babboe must comply with the quality assurance and complaint handling processes of the European organization. The safety investigation into all Babboe models is in the final phase. We expect to be able to provide clarity about this to our customers around Easter.” according to Accell’s statement.
(SOURCE: RTL News)