The_Info_Web/40 - EVENTS/CRIME_INVESTIGATIONS/Rolodex Investigation.md

title	aliases	created	updated	tags	category	summary	start	end	location
Rolodex Investigation	Rolodex Investigation Bell Boys Investigation	2026-05-17	2026-10-09	Event Investigation Netherlands 1990s ChildTrafficking GovernmentCorruption	Crime Investigation	Dutch inquiry into an Amsterdam brothel and its escort agency, begun in 1997 and reopened in 1998, in which a witness named two chief prosecutors on the owner's rolodex, which was never found.	1997-01-01	1998-12-31	Amsterdam, Netherlands

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, drawn from the Rijksrecherche, the Bureau Interne Onderzoeken and the Amsterdam youth and vice police. The Dutch government's summary of December 23, 2013 states that the underlying probe of an Amsterdam brothel for homosexual clients with an attached escort agency began in February 1997, was halted for tactical reasons and was reopened in May 1998, after a man under investigation in another sex-offence case (suspected of raping his partner's 14-year-old daughter) began to describe the brothel in detail. On July 17, 1998, that witness named two chief prosecutors, whose names he said he had seen on a rolodex of the brothel owner "A" containing the owner's clients.¹ The summary states that the rolodex was never found in searches of the suspects' homes and premises. The team's other assignments were an inquiry into a criminal organisation producing child pornography and a corruption inquiry into Amsterdam-Amstelland police staff.¹ The inventory lists observation reports of the Koninklijke Marechaussee of December 17, 1998 and January 12, 1999.¹ The start date is given as 1997 by former detective Leendert de Koter, who worked on the probe, and as August 1998 in a March 2014 ministerial letter.²³

Convictions and the Brothel Owner

The brothel owner is identified in the government summary only as "A," with a recruiter identified as "B." The Rechtbank Amsterdam sentenced them on February 26, 1999, to three years and fifteen months respectively, the latter with six months suspended.¹ A ministerial letter of July 2015 gives the same sentences for a 1999 conviction without naming either man.⁴ Nick Davies wrote in 1998 that Karel Maasdam, known as "Alex Privee," was the owner of the Bell Boys escort agency.⁵ DutchNews reported in April 2016 that "Charles Maasdam, who was sentenced in 1998 for operating a child brothel in Amsterdam's Oost neighbourhood, is expected to give evidence," and NL Times reported that "Charles Maasdam, who owned a youth brothel in the capital for years, is also set to testify." Records found do not establish whether he is the Karel Maasdam described by Davies.⁶⁷

Officials Named

The College of Procurators-General concluded provisionally on March 24, 1999 that the matter traced to the statements of one person, whom the police regarded as unreliable, and that the two chief prosecutors could not be regarded as suspects; it confirmed this on May 26, 1999 after the Rijksrecherche heard them. Two other officials with legal government functions came into view; the summary states that witness statements, wiretaps and observations in the main investigation indicated they were customers of the brothel's homosexual services, and that on September 21, 1999 the College found it had not been shown they committed offences.¹ The summary states that the former secretary-general of the ministry, Joris Demmink, did not appear in the Rolodex investigation in any way.¹³

De Koter testified on March 5, 2014 before an examining magistrate in Utrecht that the Rijksrecherche supplied the names of Demmink and three chief prosecutors, Jan Wolter Wabeke, Henry Hans Holthuis and Wooldrik, that the suspicion against the four was repeated sexual abuse of minors, that searches at the home of the university professor on whom the probe concentrated found the computer, video recorder and videotapes gone, that a request for an observation team on Demmink and the prosecutors was refused, and that Fred Teeven knew the names. He said the probe produced no further indications against Demmink.²⁸ Jaap Hoek, a former head of the Amsterdam youth and vice police, said he did not remember Demmink's name or chief prosecutors' names in the investigation.⁸

S. Dovey wrote that the rolodex held the private numbers of three district attorneys, Holthuis, Henk Wooldrik and Wabeke, and that it belonged to a university professor who served as an intermediary for clients of the Bell Boys service.⁹

Witness Testimony and Evidence

Crucial evidence in the investigation came from a boy prostitute who worked at the Festival Bar and later described these events at a U.S. Helsinki Commission briefing on child sex trafficking on October 5, 2012. The witness provided detailed testimony about Karel Maasdam's operation, stating that Maasdam sold boys to Amsterdam child pornographers, some of whom were involved in snuff films. The witness also claimed to have been introduced to Demmink at the Festival Bar by a university professor and described being instructed to have sex with Demmink inside his government car.¹⁰

Government Vehicle Abuse and Official Complicity

Further evidence of official complicity emerged from complaints filed by drivers assigned to Demmink's government car. One driver had complained that Demmink had sex with boys in the backseat of his government car in his presence. The driver died shortly after lodging the complaint, which was never followed up on. Similar complaints were made by other drivers.¹¹

Outcome

The summary records a probe halted in 1997 that was reopened in May 1998, with the College's conclusions in 1999.¹ DutchNews wrote that the investigation "ultimately yielded no tangible results"; Omroep Brabant wrote that it yielded no tangible result "althans niet waar het de hooggeplaatste figuren betreft."⁶⁸ A detective who investigated the Bell Boys service stated that the case had been closed with the arrest and sentencing of Karel Maasdam.¹²

International Connections and Broader Network

The Rolodex Investigation revealed connections to international trafficking networks. S. Dovey wrote that a man Dovey describes as Karel Maasdam's bookkeeper told the Dutch current-affairs programme EenVandaag that Warwick Spinks frequently supplied boys to Demmink and Henry Hans Holthuis.⁹

Connection to Other Investigations

The Rolodex Investigation was one of three major interlinked investigations into child trafficking networks in the Netherlands during the 1990s, along with Operation Framework (1992-93) and the HIK Investigation (1994).¹³

Footnotes

---

1. "Samenvatting van de aanleiding, het verloop, de resultaten en de besluitvorming in het Rolodex-onderzoek," and "Chronologische inhoudsopgave Rolodex-dossier," December 23, 2013. https://eerstekamer.nl/9370000/1/j4nvgs5kjg27kof_j9vvkfvj6b325az/vjigib8p5szh ↩︎

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

3. Tweede Kamer, Kamerstuk 33 750 VI, nr. 116, letter of March 27, 2014. https://www.eerstekamer.nl/behandeling/20140327/brief_regering/document3/f=/vjifeja4nlzk.pdf ↩︎

4. Tweede Kamer, Kamerstuk 31 015, nr. 115, letter of July 1, 2015. https://eerstekamer.nl/9370000/1/j4nvi0xeni9vr2l_j9vvkfvj6b325az/vme26leaeuex/f=/vjvdn6hc42z9.pdf ↩︎

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

6. "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/ ↩︎

7. "Forced child prostitution case: Netherlands elite, royalty under microscope," NL Times, April 18, 2016. https://nltimes.nl/node/28758 ↩︎

8. "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 ↩︎

9. Dovey, S. Eye of the Chickenhawk. Thehotstar, 2023. ↩︎

10. 'Listening To Victims of Child Sex Trafficking', U.S. Helsinki Commission briefing, October 5, 2012; Bell Boys service victim statements ↩︎

11. Government vehicle abuse complaints and driver testimony; Rob Mostert case and subsequent death ↩︎

12. Investigation shutdown and cover-up evidence; Detective statements on case closure ↩︎

13. Summary of interlinked Netherlands investigations, 1992-1998; Dutch police investigation files and media reports ↩︎