Exposing a prosecutor

last updated 8 January 2015

Amsterdam

A Dutch TV news show embarrassed the government this week when it reported that it had obtained the secret files of the Netherlands’ top prosecutor. Leading public prosecutor Joost Tonino had left his old hard drive at the curb for trash pickup, and an astute cabdriver grabbed it and brought it to a reporter. Easily recoverable on the computer were not only Tonino’s personal credit card numbers and tax statements, but also secret government information about organized crime investigations. The government’s entire case against former Philips CEO Cor Boonstra, who is accused of insider trading, was also there for anyone to see. The chagrined Tonino will keep his job, but according to the daily Trouw, “Rarely has a civil servant—a magistrate, no less—gotten such a trouncing in the Parliament.”