We know the past weeks have raised questions, emotions, and doubts. In recent days, important facts were released, shedding light on the truth.
Last week, renowned journalist John van den Heuvel published an article in the largest newspaper in the Netherlands, “De Telegraaf,” which provides a fuller picture, based on facts, thorough research, and the voices that had been missing from the conversation.
• There has been no abuse or labour exploitation.
• Every single worked hour was fully paid.
• If someone worked more than 8 hours a day, it was by personal choice.
• No passports were ever confiscated or withheld. (Only briefly held to make a copy, with full consent).
• Cleaners were never bribed or pressured in any way.
De Telegraaf (read here)
Pauw & De Wit (watch episode 2 here - from 19:20)
De Volkskrant (read here)
Het Parool (read here)
MORE DETAILED ANSWERS
Since 2018, we’ve worked with a certified external cleaning company to ensure high hygiene standards in our clubs.
For a period of 11 weeks, we worked with additional cleaning staff, on top of the certified external cleaning company we've worked with for over seven years. These extra team members did not yet have valid work permits for employment in the Netherlands. We take full responsibility for this misstep. We are actively cooperating with the authorities and are taking steps to ensure this can never happen again. This experience has taught us valuable lessons, and we’re committed to learning from it.
No. Wanting to help our cleaners, we made a private, unoccupied home on the Apollolaan - owned by Tom Moos - available to those who needed a safe and clean place to stay. The home is 450m² with four bedrooms and a garden. It had been vacant due to a pending permit. The entire villa was fully available for them to use. We offered the house to cleaners in need, free of charge and entirely voluntarily.
The complaints were never reported while these individuals were employed. In fact, every cleaner who was actively working with us at the time has voluntarily signed a written statement confirming they were treated fairly and respectfully. The allegations only emerged after their collaboration ended, coming from a small group (initially 3 individuals, later 5) who had worked with us for a short period (2 weeks to 5 weeks).
No, absolutely not. Saints & Stars has never offered money to cleaners to influence what they would say to the media.
In fact, the opposite is true. Just days before the first article appeared in Het Parool, we were contacted with financial demands: if we didn’t pay €10,000 net per person, the media would be involved. That amount later increased to €20,000, despite these individuals having only worked with us for a very short time, between 14 and 35 days. Now, in court, they are claiming around €65,000 per person, even though some worked no more than two weeks.
On August 4th, their lawyer proposed that if we paid at least €20,000 per person, they would publicly support Saints & Stars in a press conference, even confirming that Tom Moos was unaware of any wrongdoing. His clients would help put Saints & Stars back in a positive light. The lawyer explicitly described this in an email as a way to end our “PR nightmare” - his exact wording.
While we want to remain respectful and careful in what we say as the investigation is still ongoing, it is important that this context is made clear.
Our lawyer has since filed an official complaint with the Amsterdam Bar Association (“Orde van Advocaten Amsterdam”) against the lawyer representing these five individuals.
We have filed an official complaint with the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie) concerning blackmail, slander, and defamation. This complaint targets unknown individuals.
No. No passports were ever confiscated (only briefly held to make a copy, with full consent).
Over the past few weeks, several media reports have accused our company of exploiting cleaners. This is a very serious matter.
However, we are fully convinced that no abuse or labour exploitation took place as mentioned in the media.