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Finance Ministry says defrauded by staffer

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-09-03 09:20

The Dutch Finance Ministry Thursday acknowledged it was defrauded out of more than 160,000 euros ($204,800) earlier this year by an employee of the ministry unit that handles the state's financing needs.

The ministry said in a statement it reported its suspicions in early August to local police in The Hague area, the government seat. The staffer of the Dutch State Treasury Agency was suspended and later arrested.

The employee is accused of transferring the money between March and July in various transactions to seven people outside the ministry, who then transferred the money back to the person's private bank account.

Police are still investigating whether the seven, aged 24 to 52, were aware of the fraud, the ministry and police said.

The police, in a separate statement, identified the suspect as a 51-year-old man from Amsterdam whose job involved handling cash transactions for the DSTA. He has admitted to the fraud and is free while the investigation continues, they added.

The DSTA is primarily responsible for selling short-term treasury certificates and long-term bonds to help meet the country's financial obligations.

The ministry said it has taken immediate steps, following an internal audit, to prevent future cases of fraud.