Former home affairs minister Piet Hein Donner did not inform parliament about the financial problems at housing corporation Vestia for several months, a parliamentary inquiry heard on Monday.

Donner was being questioned by the inquiry committee set up to look into the problems in the social housing sector in general and the financial scandals at the individual housing corporations in particular.

According to press reports, Donner said he first knew about the problems at Vestia in September 2011 but did not inform parliament or his cabinet colleagues because he felt he did not know enough detail and had no idea what to do about it.

Speculation

In January 2012, it emerged that Vestia, the Netherlands’ biggest housing corporation, was in financial difficulty after speculating on the financial markets on interest rates. Rotterdam-based Vestia, which manages 89,000 homes, also paid its former boss a €3.5m pay-off.

Three months later, its financial chief was arrested on suspicion of bribery and money laundering.

In June 2014, Dutch justice ministry officials sequestered several million euros from a financial advisor thought to be involved in the Vestia fraud case.

Donner told the inquiry he kept the original signs of financial instability secret because he was afraid the scandal would be even greater if it was made known too early.