THE DUTCH ANTITRUST WATCHDOG HAS IMPOSED A FINE OF 1.84 MILLION EUROS FOR DELETING WHATSAPP CHAT CONVERSATIONS DURING A DAWN RAID

16/12/2019

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (“ACM”) has imposed a fine of 1.84 million euros to company for hindering or complicating a down-raid conducted within the scope of an ongoing investigation.

As per the legislation; ACM is authorized to perform unannounced down-raids during investigations. All companies under investigation are required to cooperate with ACM investigations and should not destroy or damage any evidence. ACM inspectors inform company executives about the down-raid procedure and explains clearly that the employees should clearly cooperate with the inspection team.

In this particular case;

• The inspectors explained the down-raid procedure and requested to inspect all physical and electronic documents including corporate phones and got started,
• During the down-raid, some of the employees of the company left several whatsapp groups and also deleted conversations in these groups that could contain evidence related to the alleged violations during the down-raid,
• ACM inspectors noticed these behaviors during the down-raid and took these actions as obstructing the ACM investigation.

The company acknowledged that these actions are illegal and the employees wrongfully left and deleted whatsapp material. As a result ACM fined the company for 1.84 million euros which is lowered by 20 percent for cooperation of the company.