A senior official in the public prosecution department has been suspended for lying about a relationship he was having with another public prosecutor and for trying to win favour for a family member in a departmental contract.

The investigation into Marc van Nimwegen was started last year following a string of publications in the NRC newspaper.

Department workers complained to the paper about the bad atmosphere at work, which they said was down to Van Nimwegen’s affair with Marianne Bloos, who is currently also on indefinite leave.

Under departmental rules, the relationship, which began in 2011, should have been shared with senior officials because it could have led to a conflict of interest.

In addition, the investigation found that Van Nimwegen may well have been involved in trying to win a contract for supplying software with a company run by his brother-in-law.

The department said in a statement the commission’s conclusions are ‘extremely painful’ and that its image had been damaged by ‘the culpable behaviour of two public prosecutors’.