Headlines October
Exam fraud also at accounting firm PwC
Accounting firm PwC is also involved in exam fraud. In its annual report for 2023 and 2024, PwC writes that employees have shared answers to mandatory tests among themselves. This is strictly prohibited. Similar fraud was previously discovered at other large accounting firms, such as Deloitte and KPMG .
In the exam fraud, accountants were given answers to exam questions. These exams can be about cybersecurity or integrity, for example, and are mandatory for the profession. In 2022, the AFM asked all major accountancy firms to investigate internal exam fraud.
Sanctions
The investigation at PwC covers the period from July 2017 to October 2023 and has not yet been completed. "We know that this behavior is contrary to the integrity and trust that must form the basis of our company," the board says in the annual report .PwC also says it has taken measures to prevent new fraud. For example, a new code of conduct has been introduced that makes clear what is expected of employees when participating in training and tests. In addition, some online tests are being replaced by classroom training and there are "more checks to detect fraud more quickly". Employees who have committed fraud will be held internally responsible. The annual report states that the measures range from corrective conversations and warnings to fines and dismissal.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2540406-ook-examenfraude-bij-accountantskantoor-pwc
Criminal investigation into company that cleans up drug waste for government
The Public Prosecution Service is investigating incidents involving the transport and storage of chemical waste by the company Strukton Milieutechniek, which cleans up drug waste for the government. This was confirmed by the Functional Parket after reporting by the Algemeen Dagblad. The Functional Parket is investigating, among other things, stored truck trailers full of barrels of chemicals near the Brabant town of Nispen, on the border with Belgium. Strukton allegedly does not have a permit to store highly flammable or corrosive chemicals at this location. It is also not allowed to transfer the contents of the barrels to smaller barrels there to transport them to a waste processor. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the investigation is in its final phase, but no decision has yet been made about possible prosecution of the company or individuals.
Multiple incidents
According to the AD, there have been multiple incidents in which Strukton stored drug waste incorrectly, or in which there were chemical leaks. The Functional Parket does not want to say how many incidents there are. However, a spokesperson does say that "the situation is being monitored" in a case involving industrial containers. In Lage Zwaluwe, where Strukton also did not have a permit for storage, one of these containers leaked hundreds of liters of chemicals. Later, another container leaked and, according to the AD, a barrel burst in Breda, where the company does have a special storage facility and permit.
Active for government
Strukton Milieutechniek has been cleaning up drug waste dumped by drug criminals for municipalities, the police and Staatsbosbeheer for years. They also clean up contaminated areas of land where drug waste has leaked.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2540528-strafrechtelijk-onderzoek-naar-bedrijf-dat-drugsafval-opruimt-voor-overheid
ASML accidentally publishes figures and they are not good: share plummets
Chip machine manufacturer ASML in Veldhoven lost tens of billions of euros in value in an hour on Tuesday. Due to prematurely leaked quarterly figures, ASML's share price plummeted on the Amsterdam stock exchange. At one point, the decline was so steep that trading was temporarily halted. This only happens in the event of very large price drops. The figures were briefly on the ASML website, but were removed after half an hour. This is a day too early, because the results of chip machine producer ASML were actually supposed to be published on Wednesday morning before the markets opened. ASML says the premature publication is due to a 'technical error'. Immediately after the discovery, shortly before half past four on Tuesday afternoon, the share went into free fall. At the end of the day, a share cost 668.10 euros, almost 16 percent less than Monday.
Sale
According to the Veldhoven-based company, the number of new orders for its machines amounted to 2.6 billion euros. A quarter earlier, this was almost 5.6 billion euros. This expectation disappoints investors. The expectations for the coming year were also lower than the market had expected, so the share was sold off. ASML is one of the largest funds in the Amsterdam AEX, the index of 25 listed companies in the Netherlands. Due to the sharp decline of ASML, the AEX also plunged into the red and fell by 2.5 percent. Despite Tuesday's sharp drop in share prices, ASML's market value, which is the value of all shares added together, is still over 280 billion euros. That is more than, for example, oil company Shell, worth over 200 billion euros.
Source: https://www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/4572220/asml-publiceert-per-ongeluk-cijfers-en-die-zijn-niet-best-aandeel-keldert
Vodafone fined millions for insufficiently securing interception facility
Vodafone has been fined 2.25 million euros by the National Digital Infrastructure Inspectorate (RDI) for insufficiently securing its interception facility. The security did not meet legal requirements in several areas. The identified shortcomings have since been rectified. An interception system contains information about persons or organisations that are ‘tapped’. This might include listening in on telephone conversations or reading messages sent via SMS, chat or e-mail. The deployment of a tap is done under strict conditions and only by order of the Public Prosecutor, AIVD or MIVD, the RDI informs.
Since a wiretap system may contain state secret or criminal information, there are strict security requirements. This applies both to the physical space in which the system is located and to access to the automated systems.
Organisational measures must also be taken to prevent the information in the interception system from reaching unauthorised persons. The RDI investigated the security of Vodafone's interception system and found that it was deficient in several areas. Providers must have a security plan that sets out how the security obligation will be implemented. At Vodafone, this plan was incomplete and also seriously outdated. It also showed that Vodafone outsourced parts of the interception process to third parties, where the required agreements had not been made sufficiently fully and concretely with all suppliers.
The investigation also showed that the staff who had access to the interception system had not been properly screened. Many of them lacked an adequate job description, a signed confidentiality declaration and a Certificate of Good Conduct. It was also found that the physical security of the room where interception data was kept was inadequate. Thus, unauthorised persons could easily gain access to the room. Finally, access security to automated systems in which interception data is processed was inadequate. ‘I consider these breaches to be serious not only individually, but certainly also taken together. After all, adequate security consists of a combination of measures in the field of prevention and detection as well as administrative and personnel measures,’ the RDI stated in the fine decision.
According to the regulator, there was no evidence of unauthorised knowledge of interception data.
Vodafone essentially disagrees with the breaches identified and does not consider the imposition of a fine appropriate, it said in a response to the RDI. In addition, the provider called the fine level disproportionate. Also, Vodafone wanted the RDI not to publish the fine decision. The regulator subsequently decided to partially publish the fine decision, as full publication could harm state security.
Source: https://www.security.nl/posting/862961/Vodafone+krijgt+miljoenenboete+voor+onvoldoende+beveiligen+aftapvoorziening?channel=twitter
A quarter of hospitals experience serious problems during heavy rain showers
Almost a quarter of the emergency departments in the Netherlands become inaccessible during a very heavy rain shower. Access roads become impassable due to deep puddles or water enters the hospital. People who need acute care can then be in danger, experts warn.Of the 77 Dutch hospitals that provide acute care, at least 17 will run into problems during a very heavy downpour. This is evident from research by Investico in collaboration with NU.nl, de Gelderlander , de Stentor and De Groene Amsterdammer. A detailed model by research agency Deltares was used for this. This model takes into account, among other things, differences in height and the discharge of rainwater via the sewer. The model simulates what happens when 70 millimeters of rain falls in two hours. Every place in the Netherlands experiences such a shower approximately once every hundred years.
"This analysis gives a good first picture of the risks," says Nanco Dolman, hydrologist at Deltares. "If you see a hospital getting blocked, that is certainly a reason for questions."
More heavy showers due to climate change
"These types of showers are occurring more often due to the changing climate in the Netherlands," says Dorien Lugt. She is an expert on water nuisance at research agency HKV and calculated future precipitation scenarios with the KNMI. A shower that occurs once in a hundred years may sound like a small risk. "But such a shower falls much more often somewhere in the Netherlands," says Lugt. "We don't know exactly how often, in any case several times a year." These are often very local downpours. Gigantic rainstorms that cause nuisance over a large area, such as last summer in Central Europe or in 2021 in South Limburg , are even more exceptional.
Many hospitals become inaccessible
Several hospitals have already suffered flooding due to heavy rainfall in recent years. The Emergency Department (ED) of the Slingeland Hospital in Doetinchem had to close to patients twice this year after heavy rainfall. Shortly after Investico contacted the hospital due to the high risk of flooding, water actually flowed in in July. Our research already showed that the parking lot in front of the emergency room entrance would fill up with water. The fact that a major access road would be blocked in heavy rain was also clear from the model. Many more hospitals could face these problems. The map below shows the risk of the Netherlands' emergency departments becoming inaccessible during heavy rain.
Flooding of hospitals
In addition to the Slingeland Hospital, six other hospitals are inaccessible to ambulances after a heavy cloudburst, the study shows. At two other hospitals, there is between 20 and 30 centimetres of water on the access roads, meaning ambulances may still be able to get through, but staff or patient cars probably won't. Finally, there are another eight hospitals where only the emergency room is inaccessible, often due to flooding on the hospital grounds themselves. At these hospitals, other entrances remain accessible.
'Sometimes every minute counts'
Hospitals are an important part of the vital infrastructure, just like power stations and major (rail) roads. "Of course, it poses risks if ambulances and patients can no longer reach the hospital and have to divert," says Dennis Barten. He is an ER physician at VieCuri Medical Center in Venlo and conducts research into how hospitals should deal with calamities. "There are situations in which every minute counts." When an emergency room is closed, ambulances often have to make dozens of kilometers of detours. This can be harmful to people who have suffered a stroke, for example. They need to get a CT scan as soon as possible, which can only be done in a hospital. Many vulnerable hospitals are located in medium-sized cities in the east of the country, where response times are already longer. A survey by Investico shows that the rain problem is already well known to some hospitals, especially if they have already suffered from flooding. Other hospitals deny that there is a problem. Sometimes hospitals and municipalities point to each other as responsible for solving the problem.
Inspection sees no problem
There is no national guideline that prescribes how hospitals should deal with precipitation risks. The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) says that hospitals are responsible for this themselves. "If we receive signals that this is not working, we will act on it. We do not have such signals," an IGJ spokesperson says. That is striking, because in 2015 the inspection itself had a report on water risks drawn up by research agency TNO. "Most existing hospitals are not built water-robust and run the risk that in the event of serious water damage as a result of a flood or extreme rainfall, some of the vital functions may temporarily not be operational", is one of the conclusions in that study. The IGJ does not respond to questions about these conclusions and what has been done with them in the past nine years. The Dutch Safety Board (OVV) announced last week that it would open an investigation into the risks of flooding due to extreme rainfall. In its announcement, the board specifically mentioned the risk of flooding at emergency departments.
'In Limburg we saw what the consequences could be'
"In the Netherlands, we are much less concerned with the consequences of heavy rain than with flooding from the sea or the major rivers," says hydrologist Dolman. This is not only a problem for hospitals. "The floods in Limburg in 2021 showed us what the consequences of this type of extreme weather can be." According to urban planner Anne Loes Nillesen, we need to design our cities better to solve the problem. For example, by building hospitals on higher ground or ensuring that water can properly seep into the ground. "When designing vital and vulnerable functions, very little account is taken of rainwater."
This research was made possible with support from the Fund for Special Journalistic Projects.
Accountability
For this research, Investico used data from the Climate Effect Atlas. This shows how high the water will rise with 70 millimeters of rainfall in two hours. The model assumes an average, well-functioning sewer system. The map uses elevation data that is more than ten years old. Therefore, it is not usable in new housing estates or places that have been renovated in the last ten years. We took this into account in the risk assessment of hospitals.
Investico has approached all hospitals that could be affected by flooding. We also asked all municipalities involved for a response. Some institutions and local authorities say they have already taken measures to prevent problems, such as improving sewers and moving pavements. This information has been incorporated into our risk assessment. You can find an overview of all responses from the hospitals on the map here . Read Investico 's more extensive justification here .
Source: https://www.nu.nl/klimaat/6332489/kwart-van-de-ziekenhuizen-komt-in-ernstige-problemen-bij-zware-regenbui.html
Accounting firm PwC is also involved in exam fraud. In its annual report for 2023 and 2024, PwC writes that employees have shared answers to mandatory tests among themselves. This is strictly prohibited. Similar fraud was previously discovered at other large accounting firms, such as Deloitte and KPMG .
In the exam fraud, accountants were given answers to exam questions. These exams can be about cybersecurity or integrity, for example, and are mandatory for the profession. In 2022, the AFM asked all major accountancy firms to investigate internal exam fraud.
Sanctions
The investigation at PwC covers the period from July 2017 to October 2023 and has not yet been completed. "We know that this behavior is contrary to the integrity and trust that must form the basis of our company," the board says in the annual report .PwC also says it has taken measures to prevent new fraud. For example, a new code of conduct has been introduced that makes clear what is expected of employees when participating in training and tests. In addition, some online tests are being replaced by classroom training and there are "more checks to detect fraud more quickly". Employees who have committed fraud will be held internally responsible. The annual report states that the measures range from corrective conversations and warnings to fines and dismissal.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2540406-ook-examenfraude-bij-accountantskantoor-pwc
Criminal investigation into company that cleans up drug waste for government
The Public Prosecution Service is investigating incidents involving the transport and storage of chemical waste by the company Strukton Milieutechniek, which cleans up drug waste for the government. This was confirmed by the Functional Parket after reporting by the Algemeen Dagblad. The Functional Parket is investigating, among other things, stored truck trailers full of barrels of chemicals near the Brabant town of Nispen, on the border with Belgium. Strukton allegedly does not have a permit to store highly flammable or corrosive chemicals at this location. It is also not allowed to transfer the contents of the barrels to smaller barrels there to transport them to a waste processor. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the investigation is in its final phase, but no decision has yet been made about possible prosecution of the company or individuals.
Multiple incidents
According to the AD, there have been multiple incidents in which Strukton stored drug waste incorrectly, or in which there were chemical leaks. The Functional Parket does not want to say how many incidents there are. However, a spokesperson does say that "the situation is being monitored" in a case involving industrial containers. In Lage Zwaluwe, where Strukton also did not have a permit for storage, one of these containers leaked hundreds of liters of chemicals. Later, another container leaked and, according to the AD, a barrel burst in Breda, where the company does have a special storage facility and permit.
Active for government
Strukton Milieutechniek has been cleaning up drug waste dumped by drug criminals for municipalities, the police and Staatsbosbeheer for years. They also clean up contaminated areas of land where drug waste has leaked.
Source: https://nos.nl/artikel/2540528-strafrechtelijk-onderzoek-naar-bedrijf-dat-drugsafval-opruimt-voor-overheid
ASML accidentally publishes figures and they are not good: share plummets
Chip machine manufacturer ASML in Veldhoven lost tens of billions of euros in value in an hour on Tuesday. Due to prematurely leaked quarterly figures, ASML's share price plummeted on the Amsterdam stock exchange. At one point, the decline was so steep that trading was temporarily halted. This only happens in the event of very large price drops. The figures were briefly on the ASML website, but were removed after half an hour. This is a day too early, because the results of chip machine producer ASML were actually supposed to be published on Wednesday morning before the markets opened. ASML says the premature publication is due to a 'technical error'. Immediately after the discovery, shortly before half past four on Tuesday afternoon, the share went into free fall. At the end of the day, a share cost 668.10 euros, almost 16 percent less than Monday.
Sale
According to the Veldhoven-based company, the number of new orders for its machines amounted to 2.6 billion euros. A quarter earlier, this was almost 5.6 billion euros. This expectation disappoints investors. The expectations for the coming year were also lower than the market had expected, so the share was sold off. ASML is one of the largest funds in the Amsterdam AEX, the index of 25 listed companies in the Netherlands. Due to the sharp decline of ASML, the AEX also plunged into the red and fell by 2.5 percent. Despite Tuesday's sharp drop in share prices, ASML's market value, which is the value of all shares added together, is still over 280 billion euros. That is more than, for example, oil company Shell, worth over 200 billion euros.
Source: https://www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/4572220/asml-publiceert-per-ongeluk-cijfers-en-die-zijn-niet-best-aandeel-keldert
Vodafone fined millions for insufficiently securing interception facility
Vodafone has been fined 2.25 million euros by the National Digital Infrastructure Inspectorate (RDI) for insufficiently securing its interception facility. The security did not meet legal requirements in several areas. The identified shortcomings have since been rectified. An interception system contains information about persons or organisations that are ‘tapped’. This might include listening in on telephone conversations or reading messages sent via SMS, chat or e-mail. The deployment of a tap is done under strict conditions and only by order of the Public Prosecutor, AIVD or MIVD, the RDI informs.
Since a wiretap system may contain state secret or criminal information, there are strict security requirements. This applies both to the physical space in which the system is located and to access to the automated systems.
Organisational measures must also be taken to prevent the information in the interception system from reaching unauthorised persons. The RDI investigated the security of Vodafone's interception system and found that it was deficient in several areas. Providers must have a security plan that sets out how the security obligation will be implemented. At Vodafone, this plan was incomplete and also seriously outdated. It also showed that Vodafone outsourced parts of the interception process to third parties, where the required agreements had not been made sufficiently fully and concretely with all suppliers.
The investigation also showed that the staff who had access to the interception system had not been properly screened. Many of them lacked an adequate job description, a signed confidentiality declaration and a Certificate of Good Conduct. It was also found that the physical security of the room where interception data was kept was inadequate. Thus, unauthorised persons could easily gain access to the room. Finally, access security to automated systems in which interception data is processed was inadequate. ‘I consider these breaches to be serious not only individually, but certainly also taken together. After all, adequate security consists of a combination of measures in the field of prevention and detection as well as administrative and personnel measures,’ the RDI stated in the fine decision.
According to the regulator, there was no evidence of unauthorised knowledge of interception data.
Vodafone essentially disagrees with the breaches identified and does not consider the imposition of a fine appropriate, it said in a response to the RDI. In addition, the provider called the fine level disproportionate. Also, Vodafone wanted the RDI not to publish the fine decision. The regulator subsequently decided to partially publish the fine decision, as full publication could harm state security.
Source: https://www.security.nl/posting/862961/Vodafone+krijgt+miljoenenboete+voor+onvoldoende+beveiligen+aftapvoorziening?channel=twitter
A quarter of hospitals experience serious problems during heavy rain showers
Almost a quarter of the emergency departments in the Netherlands become inaccessible during a very heavy rain shower. Access roads become impassable due to deep puddles or water enters the hospital. People who need acute care can then be in danger, experts warn.Of the 77 Dutch hospitals that provide acute care, at least 17 will run into problems during a very heavy downpour. This is evident from research by Investico in collaboration with NU.nl, de Gelderlander , de Stentor and De Groene Amsterdammer. A detailed model by research agency Deltares was used for this. This model takes into account, among other things, differences in height and the discharge of rainwater via the sewer. The model simulates what happens when 70 millimeters of rain falls in two hours. Every place in the Netherlands experiences such a shower approximately once every hundred years.
"This analysis gives a good first picture of the risks," says Nanco Dolman, hydrologist at Deltares. "If you see a hospital getting blocked, that is certainly a reason for questions."
More heavy showers due to climate change
"These types of showers are occurring more often due to the changing climate in the Netherlands," says Dorien Lugt. She is an expert on water nuisance at research agency HKV and calculated future precipitation scenarios with the KNMI. A shower that occurs once in a hundred years may sound like a small risk. "But such a shower falls much more often somewhere in the Netherlands," says Lugt. "We don't know exactly how often, in any case several times a year." These are often very local downpours. Gigantic rainstorms that cause nuisance over a large area, such as last summer in Central Europe or in 2021 in South Limburg , are even more exceptional.
Many hospitals become inaccessible
Several hospitals have already suffered flooding due to heavy rainfall in recent years. The Emergency Department (ED) of the Slingeland Hospital in Doetinchem had to close to patients twice this year after heavy rainfall. Shortly after Investico contacted the hospital due to the high risk of flooding, water actually flowed in in July. Our research already showed that the parking lot in front of the emergency room entrance would fill up with water. The fact that a major access road would be blocked in heavy rain was also clear from the model. Many more hospitals could face these problems. The map below shows the risk of the Netherlands' emergency departments becoming inaccessible during heavy rain.
Flooding of hospitals
In addition to the Slingeland Hospital, six other hospitals are inaccessible to ambulances after a heavy cloudburst, the study shows. At two other hospitals, there is between 20 and 30 centimetres of water on the access roads, meaning ambulances may still be able to get through, but staff or patient cars probably won't. Finally, there are another eight hospitals where only the emergency room is inaccessible, often due to flooding on the hospital grounds themselves. At these hospitals, other entrances remain accessible.
'Sometimes every minute counts'
Hospitals are an important part of the vital infrastructure, just like power stations and major (rail) roads. "Of course, it poses risks if ambulances and patients can no longer reach the hospital and have to divert," says Dennis Barten. He is an ER physician at VieCuri Medical Center in Venlo and conducts research into how hospitals should deal with calamities. "There are situations in which every minute counts." When an emergency room is closed, ambulances often have to make dozens of kilometers of detours. This can be harmful to people who have suffered a stroke, for example. They need to get a CT scan as soon as possible, which can only be done in a hospital. Many vulnerable hospitals are located in medium-sized cities in the east of the country, where response times are already longer. A survey by Investico shows that the rain problem is already well known to some hospitals, especially if they have already suffered from flooding. Other hospitals deny that there is a problem. Sometimes hospitals and municipalities point to each other as responsible for solving the problem.
Inspection sees no problem
There is no national guideline that prescribes how hospitals should deal with precipitation risks. The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) says that hospitals are responsible for this themselves. "If we receive signals that this is not working, we will act on it. We do not have such signals," an IGJ spokesperson says. That is striking, because in 2015 the inspection itself had a report on water risks drawn up by research agency TNO. "Most existing hospitals are not built water-robust and run the risk that in the event of serious water damage as a result of a flood or extreme rainfall, some of the vital functions may temporarily not be operational", is one of the conclusions in that study. The IGJ does not respond to questions about these conclusions and what has been done with them in the past nine years. The Dutch Safety Board (OVV) announced last week that it would open an investigation into the risks of flooding due to extreme rainfall. In its announcement, the board specifically mentioned the risk of flooding at emergency departments.
'In Limburg we saw what the consequences could be'
"In the Netherlands, we are much less concerned with the consequences of heavy rain than with flooding from the sea or the major rivers," says hydrologist Dolman. This is not only a problem for hospitals. "The floods in Limburg in 2021 showed us what the consequences of this type of extreme weather can be." According to urban planner Anne Loes Nillesen, we need to design our cities better to solve the problem. For example, by building hospitals on higher ground or ensuring that water can properly seep into the ground. "When designing vital and vulnerable functions, very little account is taken of rainwater."
This research was made possible with support from the Fund for Special Journalistic Projects.
Accountability
For this research, Investico used data from the Climate Effect Atlas. This shows how high the water will rise with 70 millimeters of rainfall in two hours. The model assumes an average, well-functioning sewer system. The map uses elevation data that is more than ten years old. Therefore, it is not usable in new housing estates or places that have been renovated in the last ten years. We took this into account in the risk assessment of hospitals.
Investico has approached all hospitals that could be affected by flooding. We also asked all municipalities involved for a response. Some institutions and local authorities say they have already taken measures to prevent problems, such as improving sewers and moving pavements. This information has been incorporated into our risk assessment. You can find an overview of all responses from the hospitals on the map here . Read Investico 's more extensive justification here .
Source: https://www.nu.nl/klimaat/6332489/kwart-van-de-ziekenhuizen-komt-in-ernstige-problemen-bij-zware-regenbui.html
Translated Dutch to English with Google Translate