Nationalised bank SNS Reaal is taking legal action against a former interim member of staff who leaked information about a possible conflict of interests at the bank’s troubled property arm.

The Financieele Dagblad says the bank made police complaints against six workers in the Property Finance division at the beginning of this year, including its director, Buck Groenhof. The division’s problems eventually led to its nationalisation.

The complaints followed an article in the paper in 2012 in which Hetty van der Laar, an interim project manager, talked about the problems at the property division.

Groenhof and two others were arrested and 17 staff members were sacked because of doubts about their integrity.

SNS now claims Van der Laar did exactly the same as Groenhof by forging bills and laundering the proceeds. And insiders have told the paper she turned against her boss when she was expelled from his network.

Van der Laar, who is shortly to publish a book about her experiences at SNS, has described the claims as rubbish. The bank itself has refused to comment, the FD says.