No indication that Khalid Kasem bribed official, but receives warning | Domestic

Kasem made that inappropriate statement to a client in order to get an invoice paid. The former lawyer wrongly stated that “one third” should be paid.

Kasem has also admitted this and has received a formal warning for this. He is spared a trip to the disciplinary court.

The investigation by the Amsterdam dean, a supervisor of the legal profession, started a few months ago after articles appeared in the A.D which would show that Kasem was guilty of bribing an official in order to get clients released earlier.

The bribery has therefore not been established “and is also very unlikely and makes little sense given the underlying structures and processes of the Judicial Institutions Agency (DJI)”, according to Dean Barbara Rumora-Scheltema.

The supervisor also looked again at the alleged leaking of confidential documents by Kasem to Taghi’s criminal organization. Kasem is said to have shared documents from the file during his time as a lawyer, while restrictions still applied. This means that there may only be contact between client and lawyer. The dean has once again found no evidence for this.

It is a conclusion that was also drawn in 2021 by the then supervisor. “The information that has now become known seems to confirm that the information was not leaked by Mr. Kasem at the time, or at least that this is not likely,” says the dean.

The articles in the A.D were based on recordings made in 2019 by Peter R. de Vries. At the time, De Vries was director of the law firm where Kasem worked.

The dean expressed her concerns about the fact that confidential conversations were held without the knowledge or consent of the conversation partners. Although, according to the dean, it appears that Royce de Vries was not aware of his father’s recordings, he was spoken to about it.

The dean says she realizes that she will never be completely certain that no deception has been played on her. “Negative proof, in the sense of proof that something did not happen, cannot be provided,” said Rumora-Scheltema. “At the same time, with regard to the accusations made, I note that I am certainly not convinced that there is reason to believe that they are well-founded.”

Kasem is “very happy” with the outcome of the dean’s investigation. The fact that the dean has found no indications of bribery or an attempt at bribery is “no surprise” to him, he writes on Instagram. “There is great relief that what I have always said has been confirmed.”

Due to the events, he stopped working as a presenter of the BNNVARA program Khalid & Sophie down. Presenter Jeroen Pauw has since replaced Kasem.

BNNVARA is also happy with the outcome. “We are very pleased that the Bar Association concludes that our colleague Khalid Kasem has not been guilty of bribery or leaking information in the past as a lawyer, as previously alleged.”

The broadcaster takes the Amsterdam dean’s conclusion into account in the conversations it has with Kasem. “We will do this after the Easter weekend in consultation with Khalid,” says BNNVARA.

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