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category tags aliases summary created updated location relations
Criminals & Offenders
Person
Netherlands
BoyProstitution
BellBoys
RolodexInvestigation
PedophileNetwork
Karel Maasdam
Alex Privee
Karel Maasdam, alias 'Alex Privee,' was described by Nick Davies in 1998 as the owner of the Bell Boys escort agency in the Netherlands. 2026-05-14 2026-10-15 Netherlands
type with start role fn
owned Bell Boys 1998 owner of the escort agency, as described by Nick Davies 1

Karel Maasdam is a man in the Netherlands whom the journalist Nick Davies identified in 1998 as the owner of the Bell Boys escort agency, known in Amsterdam as "Alex Privee."1 The Dutch government's account of a 1997 to 1999 probe of an Amsterdam brothel for homosexual clients with an attached escort agency refers to the brothel's owner only as "A."2

Bell Boys and the alias

Nick Davies wrote in 1998 of a search for a missing German boy that took him to the Paardenstraat in Amsterdam, where he found three bars, the Festival Bar, the Music Box and the Cupido. In the same passage he wrote of finding "a man who looked like Fagin in a flat hat," and of that man: "His real name is Karel Maasdam but he is known here as Alex Privee, owner of the Bell Boys escort agency, producer of boy pornography, close friend of Lothar Glandorf."1

Davies wrote that Maasdam did not say he had never met the missing boy, nor that the boy had never been seen in the Paardenstraat. According to Davies, Maasdam said he had come across a boy who looked very like the missing boy, that he had checked it out and that he was sure it was only a lookalike.1 Davies also wrote that an Englishman he interviewed in Amsterdam, who is not named, said a boy who worked as an escort for "Alex Privee's agency, Bell Boys" had mentioned seeing the missing boy in Glandorf's clubs in Rotterdam.1

Het Parool carried classified advertisements headed "Bell Boys" in its "Diverse clubs" column from December 24, 1983 ("BELL BOYS. 24 uur escorts") through at least October 28, 1985, among them "Bell Boys 24-uurs Escort" on January 30 and February 1, 1984.3 On March 4, 6 and 8, 1985, the same newspaper carried an advertisement signed "Alex Privee. 5 Leuke jongens ontvangen u in gezellige sfeer. Ook Peter. S/M."4 The two sets of advertisements carry different telephone numbers.

Rolodex investigation

The Dutch government's summary of December 23, 2013 states that the Rolodex Investigation was the third assignment of a multidisciplinary team formed in Amsterdam on August 25, 1998 under the responsibility of the Amsterdam chief prosecutor. The underlying probe of the brothel had begun in February 1997, was halted for tactical reasons and was reopened in May 1998, after a man under investigation in an unrelated sex-offence case began to describe the brothel in detail. On July 17, 1998, that witness said he had seen the names of two chief prosecutors on a rolodex, a card file of the clients of the brothel owner "A."2 The summary states that the rolodex was never found in searches of the suspects' homes and premises.2

The main case ended in the prosecution and conviction of the owner, "A," and of a recruiter, "B." The Rechtbank Amsterdam sentenced them on February 26, 1999, to three years and fifteen months respectively, the latter with six months suspended.2 A letter from the Minister of Veiligheid en Justitie to the Tweede Kamer in July 2015 gives the same sentences for a conviction in 1999, without naming either man.5

The College of Procurators-General concluded provisionally on March 24, 1999 that the allegations against the two chief prosecutors rested on the statements of one person, whom the police regarded as unreliable, and that the two could not be regarded as suspects. After the Rijksrecherche heard the two, the College saw no reason on May 26, 1999 to change that conclusion. The summary records that two other officials with legal government functions came into view during the probe, that findings of the main investigation (witness statements, wiretaps and observations) indicated that they were customers of the brothel's homosexual services, and that on September 21, 1999 the College found it had not been shown that they committed offences.2 The 2015 letter repeats that findings showed these two to be customers of the brothel.5

Former detective Leendert de Koter testified on March 5, 2014 before an examining magistrate in Utrecht. He said the Rijksrecherche had supplied the names of Joris Demmink and of three chief prosecutors, which he gave as Jan Wolter Wabeke, Henry Hans Holthuis and Wooldrik, and that the suspicion against the four was repeated sexual abuse of minors. He said the probe produced no further indications against Demmink and did not elaborate on the prosecutors.67 De Koter said that searches at the home of a university professor, the person on whom the probe concentrated, found the computer, video recorder and videotapes gone, and that a request for an observation team on Demmink and the prosecutors was refused. He also said Fred Teeven, then the chief prosecutor for criminal intelligence in Amsterdam, led working meetings of the investigation team and knew the names.67 Jaap Hoek, a former head of the Amsterdam youth and vice police who was heard the same day, said he did not remember Demmink's name or the names of chief prosecutors appearing in the Rolodex investigation.7

A ministerial letter of March 27, 2014 states that the former secretary-general of the ministry did not appear in the Rolodex file in any way, and that no information came forward on two chief prosecutors named in the investigation that would justify a criminal investigation.8 The start date is given as 1997 by De Koter, who worked on the probe, and as August 1998 in that letter.68

Civil hearings, 2016

In April 2016 DutchNews reported that "Charles Maasdam, who was sentenced in 1998 for operating a child brothel in Amsterdam's Oost neighbourhood, is expected to give evidence" at hearings in Amsterdam at which witnesses testified to allegations that politicians used underage male prostitutes in the 1980s.9 NL Times reported the same day: "Charles Maasdam, who owned a youth brothel in the capital for years, is also set to testify."10 The government summary dates the judgment against the brothel owner to February 26, 1999. Records found do not establish whether the Charles Maasdam in these reports is the Karel Maasdam described by Davies.29

Name in the X-Dossier

A Brussels magistrate identified in X-Dossier witness statements only by the first name Karel (PV 117.535, November 19, 1996) is not identified in those statements as Karel Maasdam.11

Accounts in the Dovey book

S. Dovey wrote that a man Dovey describes as Maasdam's bookkeeper told the Dutch current-affairs programme EenVandaag that Warwick Spinks frequently supplied boys to Demmink and to Holthuis. Dovey also wrote that Maasdam's accountant gave Dutch intelligence services a dossier identifying Gero-Video as a distributor of child pornography, and that Glandorf was investigated alongside associates such as Maasdam.12

The Morkhoven Workgroup dossier, as reported by Dovey, identified the owner of the G-Force nightclub in Amsterdam as an American named John Edward Mullaney and linked him through a company called Korper and Korver to John Stamford's Spartacus Network and through a company called Adonis to Maasdam. Dovey also wrote that Gero-Video was linked to TAG Films.12 The Dutch commercial register lists a J.E. Mullaney Holding B.V., registered in Amsterdam and no longer active, and an active Korper B.V. and Adonis B.V.; the register entries do not state who held the companies.13

Footnotes

  1. Nick Davies, "Paedophile network trafficks young boys across Europe," nickdavies.net, dated October 1, 1998 and marked previously unpublished. https://www.nickdavies.net/1998/10/01/paedophile-network-trafficks-young-boys-across-europe/ ↩︎

  2. "Samenvatting van de aanleiding, het verloop, de resultaten en de besluitvorming in het Rolodex-onderzoek," December 23, 2013, enclosure to a letter of the Minister van Veiligheid en Justitie to the Tweede Kamer (Kamerstuk 33 750 VI, nr. 116), Eerste Kamer copy. https://eerstekamer.nl/9370000/1/j4nvgs5kjg27kof_j9vvkfvj6b325az/vjigib8p5szh ↩︎

  3. Het Parool, classified advertisements, December 24, 1983 (ABCDDD:010846300:mpeg21:a0137), January 30, 1984 (ABCDDD:010833158:mpeg21:a0039), February 1, 1984 (ABCDDD:010833236:mpeg21:a0079) and October 28, 1985 (ABCDDD:010831481:mpeg21:a0029), Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Delpher. http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ABCDDD:010846300:mpeg21:a0137 ↩︎

  4. Het Parool, classified advertisements, March 4, 1985 (ABCDDD:010831409:mpeg21:a0033), March 6, 1985 (ABCDDD:010831411:mpeg21:a0060) and March 8, 1985 (ABCDDD:010831413:mpeg21:a0023), Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Delpher. http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ABCDDD:010831413:mpeg21:a0023 ↩︎

  5. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, Kamerstuk 31 015, nr. 115, letter of the Minister van Veiligheid en Justitie, July 1, 2015, answers to questions 2 and 8. https://eerstekamer.nl/9370000/1/j4nvi0xeni9vr2l_j9vvkfvj6b325az/vme26leaeuex/f=/vjvdn6hc42z9.pdf ↩︎

  6. "Politie onderzocht Demmink in '97," NOS, March 5, 2014. https://nos.nl/artikel/619220-politie-onderzocht-demmink-in-97 ↩︎

  7. "Oud-hoofdofficier justitie Jan Wolter Wabeke uit Best genoemd in zedenzaak Joris Demmink," Omroep Brabant, March 5, 2014. https://www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/1720283/oud-hoofdofficier-justitie-jan-wolter-wabeke-uit-best-genoemd-in-zedenzaak-joris-demmink ↩︎

  8. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, Kamerstuk 33 750 VI, nr. 116, letter of the Minister van Veiligheid en Justitie, March 27, 2014. https://www.eerstekamer.nl/behandeling/20140327/brief_regering/document3/f=/vjifeja4nlzk.pdf ↩︎

  9. "Politicians and officials named in court as 'boy brothel' case begins," DutchNews.nl, April 18, 2016. https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2016/04/politicians-and-officials-named-in-court-as-boy-brothel-case-begins/ ↩︎

  10. "Forced child prostitution case: Netherlands elite, royalty under microscope," NL Times, April 18, 2016. https://nltimes.nl/2016/04/18/forced-child-prostitution-case-netherlands-elite-royalty-microscope ↩︎

  11. "Dutroux case and X-Dossier victim-witnesses," crimesandconsequences.com, updated 2021. PV 117.535, November 19, 1996, as quoted in the document. https://crimesandconsequences.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/dutroux-case-and-x-dossier-victim-witnesses.pdf ↩︎

  12. Dovey, S. Eye of the Chickenhawk, on the bookkeeper's account, the accountant's dossier and the Glandorf investigation. Thehotstar, 2023. ↩︎

  13. Kamer van Koophandel, Handelsregister, entries 33304101, 65922646 and 09208081. https://opencorporates.com/companies/nl/33304101 ↩︎