Million euro tip-off
The impending publication of Quote Magazine's annual list of the 500 richest people in the Netherlands ?just two weeks after the kidnapping of the son of a multi-millionaire ?is sending shivers through the top echelons of the business world.
In particular, the former boss of brokerage Van der Moolen, Hans Kroon, said: "I am worried about my inclusion on the list. We have taken extra security measures, not just for myself but also for my wife and children".
"In this changed world of criminals you become an object. As a result of the Top 500 everyone knows that I have wealth. Why should that not be the case?"
And just in case you were wondering, Kroon was, as newspaper De Telegraaf points out, number 174 on last year's Quote list with an estimated EUR 90 million in the bank.
Real estate baron Jos Geerts (number 314) agrees. "My kids are in danger and I have had to increase our security measures. I think it is absurd that the list is compiled. I have asked to be kept out of it," he said.
Each year the publication of Quote's list of the super rich is greeted with annoyance and anxious words from several of those listed. And each year the media asks whether the list is an invasion of privacy and then continues to quote from the Quote list for the rest of the year to fill out articles and profiles about the country's financial elites.
"Oh come on," replies Quote editor Jort Kelder. "Some people complain in public when they hear they are going to be included on the list, only later to ring us up to confirm exactly how much they are worth."
One only has to cast an occasional glance at main gossip magazines to know that many Dutch celebrities, in common with celebrities the world over, pull out all the stops to ensure they are mentioned every week. And then they complain that they are always being written about.
Everyone knows that celebrities need publicity as much as they need oxygen to live. But that does not mean they have a lot of money.
Most of the people listed in Quote's top 500 list have earned their money through business. They don't need publicity about their private lives to succeed and they usually don't court publicity. So, why do we, the public, have a right to know the details of how much they have in the bank and where they live?
If you won the lottery jackpot tomorrow, would you like to see your name and picture in tomorrow's newspapers?
The question takes on a far more important edge when you throw criminals and lunatics into the equation.
Fortunately the latest kidnap case ended well as the Belgian police ?working with their Dutch and German counterparts and the FBI ?intercepted a car carrying the 16-year-old boy, Reinier Terwindt, five days after the kidnapping. A homeless man who allegedly demanded a EUR 10 million ransom was arrested by the police.
The boy's father was number 79 on last year's Quote list and estimated to be worth EUR 192 million as a result of his booming concrete factory in Nijmegen.
Publicist Dig Istha was hired to speak to the media on behalf of the Terwindt family and he immediately lashed out at Quote magazine. He said the public listing of rich Dutch families "can lead people to such ideas and due to this publicity the family had taken precautions against such a calamity".
Placed at number 43 on the list with EUR 320 million, Gerrit and Toos van der Valk of the restaurant chain are just back from Malaga where Toos had her handbag and the contents stolen. She was kidnapped by Italian criminals in the 1980s, but was released alive.
Not all cases end so well. Gerrit Jan Heijn, a top executive at the Dutch supermarket giant and brother of Albert Heijn, was kidnapped and killed in 1987. Asked who did it and that raises the issue of double-standards in the media. His killer, according to the Dutch newspapers, was the infamous Ferry E.
Printing E's full name would be an invasion of privacy according to the standards of the Dutch media!
Other prominent people to have endured a kidnap ordeal include Hansje Boonstra-Raatjes ?the estranged wife of former Philips CEO Cor Boonstra ?who was taken from her home by an armed gang in 1987. She was later found beaten and tied up in the back of a car on a beach near The Hague.
Beer magnate Freddie Heineken and his driver were snatched by a gang led by drug dealer Cor van Hout and held for three weeks in 1983. It is believed NLG 35 million (EUR 15.8 million) was paid, the majority of which was never recovered.
Talk to any police officer privately and he or she will admit that the "best" kidnappings are not reported in the media, or reported to the police for that matter. A loved one is snatched, a demand is sent to the family and the money is paid to secure the release in a matter of days even hours.
Occasionally, the threat of kidnapping is enough to extort a large payment from a prominent individual.
But can Quote be blamed? It wasn't publishing the list in the 1980s and criminals didn't need inside information to know that Heineken, a member of the Heijn family or Boonstra was loaded.
Despite its adjournment this week, there is also the looming trial of an apparently disturbed man who broke into the home of former Philips executive Roel Pieper. The man stabbed Pieper and Pieper's wife, inflicting her with almost fatal wounds.
Did the man get the address of Pieper's fortified home from Quote? Probably not. On the other hand, it would not be surprising if some other publications had run a feature like "Roel at home" complete with pictures of the stately abode.
The 159 people who had voted in Expatica's poll on the issue by Friday morning didn't think much of the idea that the media is to blame for provoking evil thoughts in the minds of gangsters. Only 25 percent said the media was at fault. Another 25 percent said criminals had other ways of getting information, while 50 percent indicated the criminals and not the media were to blame for the misuse of public information.
Media and airline entrepreneur Erik de Vlieger (number 37, EUR 115 million) isn't convinced by the arguments put forward by his counterparts on the rich list. "If people want to kidnap someone they will do it and they don't need the Quote Top 500. I believe in the freedom of expression," he said
A possible cynical answer might be: of course De Vlieger would say he believes in freedom of expression. After all, he owns newspapers, including the English-language Amsterdam Times.
If we buy the argument that having your name published in the Top 500 list puts you in danger, then the same should apply to the business pages of the national newspapers, not to mention the gossip magazines. Even telling people at a party that so-and-so is loaded should be outlawed.
And look at the situation abroad. Sure the leftist Red Army Faction (RAF) in Germany gleamed information on targets from the newspapers and magazines and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) read Bourke's Peerage, but they would also have conducted research elsewhere.
And millions of other people read the same publications and they were not inspired to carry out kidnappings and killings. Why? The average readers did not have the violent intentions of the RAF and IRA. The same is true in relation to "ordinary decent criminals"; they use useful information, no matter how innocently intended, for their own nefarious purposes.
And it is important to remember that a lot of intelligence gathering from various sources, spying and snooping usually precedes any criminal act. One would be a fool to use Quote as the only source of information.
Accuse Quote of pandering to public voyeurism if you like, but the publication is of little more use to a kidnapper than the phonebook or the business pages of the national newspapers.
31 October 2003 |
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