Henk van Dalen has informed the Erasmus MC Supervisory Board that he will permanently resign from his position as member of the Supervisory Board as of 1 April 2016. The Supervisory Board respects this request and has accepted his resignation as of 1 April.
Van Dalen stood down temporarily a few months ago as member of the Supervisory Board when his former employer, VimpelCom, became embroiled in an international corruption investigation. Between 2006 and 2012, the company paid a total of 144 million dollars to a PO Box company of the Uzbekistan President’s daughter, Gulnara Karimova, in exchange for frequencies on the country’s GSM networks. Van Dalen was Financial Director of the company in 2011, when VimpelCom transferred the final 30-million-dollar kick-back.
His boss, the Norwegian-born Jo Lunder, was arrested as a consequence of the corruption scandal. VimpelCom paid the largest ever settlement to the Dutch State in 2016: 750 million euro.
Natural limit
In an explanation about his permanent resignation, Van Dalen stated in an Erasmus MC press release: “The ongoing dossiers within the Erasmus MC demand a fully-staffed Supervisory Board, which can fulfil all its tasks and responsibilities. That is why there must be a natural limit to a period of temporary resignation. For me, this is in principle, 4 to 5 months. I therefore consider it realistic to tender my permanent resignation as member of the Supervisory Board.”
“It has been an honour for me to have been able to contribute to the Erasmus MC, where excellent care, teaching and research regarding health and disease are central.” In the same press release, he was thanked for his effort and commitment to the Erasmus MC over the past two years.
