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Dutch Minister and State Secretary quit following crime deal

Xinhua, March 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten and his State Secretary of Justice Fred Teeven stepped down on Monday over misinformation on a settlement with a drug trafficker.

Opstelten and Teeven submitted their resignations hours after the Justice Ministry said it had found evidence of the exact amount paid to trafficker Cees H at the time -- 4.7 million guilders (2.6 million U.S. dollars).

In exchange for information on an even bigger drug lord, Teeven, Public Prosecutor in 2000, paid back the money which has been seized as part of an investigation to Cees H via accounts to Luxembourg without notifying tax authorities.

"This information could have been previously disclosed," Opstelten said on Monday night in a press statement. "That brings me to the conclusion that the uncertainty about the size of the settlement lasted too long. That is my responsibility and that is why I offered my resignation to the King."

King Willem-Alexander has granted their resignation. Stef Blok, Minister for Housing and the Central Government Sector, has temporarily taken over the posts of Opstelten and Teeven. Successors will probably be appointed after the States-Provincial elections on March 18. Endi