Boonstra acquitted on appeal of insider trading

10 December 2004

AMSTERDAM — An appeals court in Amsterdam acquitted former Philips boss Cor Boonstra on Friday of insider trading charges relating to the purchase of Endemol shares in 2000.

But he was convicted and fined EUR 135,000 for trading in Ahold shares and bonds without informing the Dutch finance and stock market supervision authority AFM. The sentence was equal to the prosecution’s demand.

The trial court had also imposed the same sentence, but Boonstra appealed. He did not dispute the fact the trading should have been reported — due to the fact he was an Ahold commissioner at the time — but protested against the severity of the fine.

Meanwhile, the public prosecutor had demanded two weeks ago that Boonstra be sentenced to a 240-hour work order and a six-month suspended jail term in the case involving television company Endemol, Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported. Boonstra had previously been acquitted by the Amsterdam trial court in May 2003.

Boonstra bought in March 2000 a EUR 500,000 stake in Endemol, which was taken over several days later by Spanish telecoms firm Telefonica. Share prices surged and Boonstra later sold them for a EUR 250,000 profit. The prosecution had demanded Boonstra repay the profits.

The former Philips boss was in a relationship at the time with an Endemol commissioner, Sylvia Toth. But Boonstra denied Toth had tipped him off, c claiming he had speculated on a possible takeover by IT company World Online.

Boonstra bought the shares via his residence in Belgium, urging his bank KBC to keep the deal secret. It was also one of the rare occasions that Boonstra personally ordered a share purchase. Normally he allowed his investment advisor at ABN Amro Bank to do his buying and selling.

Subject: Dutch news