The military intelligence service MIVD was aware for several years that officials were doing business with a corrupt civil servant but failed to take any action against him, the AD said on Monday.

The paper says the MIVD was warned several times about the man, who organised secret car deals and managed a fake car hire company on behalf of the MIVD, the paper said.

The paper bases its claims on court documents and statements from defence ministry officials being used at the man’s trial which is set to start on Tuesday.

Jacques H is the main suspect in a wide-ranging corruption trial centering on the purchase of new vehicles for the ministry.

Bribery

The public prosecution department says he and five other police and defence ministry officials allowed themselves to be bribed by car dealers and leasing companies. They were given hug discounts on cars, free maintenance and winter tyres and trips to the Mediterranean Sea, the paper said.

The case dates back to 2011, when a whistleblower from the car industry went public. It now emerges that officials had been aware of H’s role for years before that.

Lawyer Michael Ruperti, who represents one of the other suspects in the case, told the paper that he is surprised officials did nothing when warned that H was corrupt.