The investment firm of brothers Bas and Bob van den Nieuwenhuijzen has been fined 3 million euros. The company was found guilty of inflating the stock price of the electric bus company Ebusco, according to the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).
Bas and Bob are sons of the controversial businessman Joep van den Nieuwenhuijzen, and their mother is from the Van den Valk hotel family. The brothers, along with a cousin, own several hotels in the Netherlands, Germany, and Curaçao.
Through their company VDVI BV, formerly Van der Valk Investments BV, they held over 23 percent of Ebusco shares. In September 2022, they decided to sell a significant portion of these shares while simultaneously buying more shares, which drove up Ebusco’s stock price, increasing the value of the shares they intended to sell.
The AFM stated that VDVI disrupted the natural supply and demand balance for Ebusco shares on Euronext Amsterdam. The firm has lodged an objection to the fine, disputing the violation and claiming the effect of the transactions was negligible.
Source: NOS