The employee is staff member of the maintenance department. According to RUG spokesperson Gernant Deekens, the person in question is not a suspect in the FIOD investigation.

The staff member plays ‘an important role in the administrative process’, says Deekens. ‘We are currently investigating internally and we want this investigation to be carried out as well as possible. As a precaution, we have taken this staff member out of the process.’

Because the staff member is not a suspect, suspension was the only way for the university to be able to send the staff member home.

Corruption

Head of the maintenance department, Hans G., was arrested at the end of January. He is the main suspect in an investigation into corruption, forgery of documents and money laundering. Last week, a judge ruled to keep him in provisional detention for 90 days pending the results of the FIOD’s investigation.

It was previously made known that a second employee of the department and a self-employed individual connected to the department are involved in the fraud case.

The RUG hired the Hoffmann agency to perform their own investigation into the fraud and the involvement of other RUG staff members.