Gangland figure Willem Holleeder has accused his sister Astrid of spreading lies about him to enrich herself as his multiple murder trial resumed in Amsterdam.

Holleeder, 59, noted that Astrid had given an interview to the New Yorker magazine and her memoir, Judas, about the Holleeder family had been translated into 12 languages. The English edition was published in August. A play and TV series are also in production.

He told judges at the high-security court compound in Amsterdam known as ‘De Bunker’ that Astrid, his other sister Sonja and crime reporter Peter R. de Vries were trying to influence the trial through the media. ‘They are lying and their only motivation is money,’ he said.

‘I trust this court and I’m not saying that you are open to being influenced, but that’s what they’re trying. Their entire story is based on lies.’

Chairman of the judges Frank Wieland tried to reassured Holleeder that the court would focus solely on the evidence brought before it. ‘We shrug our shoulders at any associated reports in the media,’ he said.

The court is currently focusing on the murder of property investor Willem Endstra in 2004, one of six deaths that Holleeder is accused of having a hand in. He is also said to have ordered the assassination of Sonja’s husband Cor van Hout, who collaborated with Holleeder in the 1983 kidnapping of beer magnate Alfred Heineken.

On Monday the court was played a tape of a conversation between Endstra’s brother Haico and gangster John Mieremet in 2005. Mieremet, who was later murdered allegedly on Holleeder’s orders, told Haico Endstra he intended to kill Holleeder: ‘He’s just lucky that so many police are hanging round him,’ he said.

Holleeder’s lawyers are expected to ask the court on Thursday to release Holleeder from his remand prison because the evidence is not strong enough.

See our feature: The hottest ticket in Amsterdam is a seat at the Holleeder trial