Moszkowicz is the Netherlands’ most famous lawyer. Moszkowicz had and has many famous and infamous people among his clientele such as Bouterse, Wilders, Holleeder and Robin van Persie. Yet Moszkowicz must fight to preserve his career. He allegedly accepted cash payments and failed to provide legal assistance.
Lawyer family
Bram Moszkowicz’s father, Max Moszkowicz, builds a law empire from scratch just after the end of World War II. Such a law firm was remarkable for the Netherlands and quickly grew into the best-known and best law firm in the Netherlands.
Abraham Maarten Bram Moszkowicz, like his three brothers (David, Max Jr., and Robert), was sworn in as a lawyer. Bram, his father and his brothers David and Max Jr. Until 2012, they jointly formed the law firm Moszkowicz Advocaten with offices in Maastricht and Amsterdam. Bram managed the branch in Amsterdam.
Bram Moszkowicz was born in Maastricht on June 26, 1960 and currently lives in Amsterdam.
Study
After spending his childhood in Maastricht, Mosckowicz went to study law with his father in Amsterdam. Of course there were few southerners here and this made him very noticeable. During his studies, he was already known for his formal clothing style: a neat suit with lacquered shoes. Rarely, if ever, did Moszkowicz come to school dressed informally.
According to one of the teachers, Moszkowicz did not stand out at all in terms of content. No one really got the impression that he was a very smart boy with a glorious future in sight. Moszkowicz himself confirms this in his recently published book. , The study is all theoretical. I had to rely on practice, from my father. What I learned from my father has more content than the entire training in Amsterdam put together .,
In 1984, Moszkowicz finished his studies and could start appearing in court.
Career
In the period from 1984 to 2003, Moszkowicz defended many clients. Every year his career became bigger, better known and stronger. However, that changed in 2003 when he started defending Desi Bouterse. Desi Bouterse was and still is suspected of involvement in and responsibility for the infamous December murders. The defense did not cause any problems for Moszkowicz. What would pose a problem was the video that would later surface where Moszkowicz chatted with Bouterse while dancing. Moszkowicz has always maintained that Bouterse came to him unsolicited instead of going to Bouterse. Moszkowicz denies any claims of a friendly relationship outside the courtroom.
A new lawsuit in 2005 again aroused international interest. This time it is the main suspect in the fireworks disaster in Enschede. André de Vries is defended by Moszkowicz and is acquitted.
In 2007, Moszkowicz again received negative news. This time it is the lawsuit regarding top criminal Willem Holleeder. Holleeder is said to have extorted Endstra. Because Moszkowicz used to be a lawyer for Endstra, the Endstra-Holleeder combination did not go well. There was even a complaint that should ensure that Moszkowicz could no longer legally be Holleeder’s lawyer.
But the bad side of things was yet to come. Jort Kelder, editor-in-chief of Quote, called Moszkowicz and Holleeder ,mafia buddies,. This ruling led to summary proceedings in which Moszkowicz was found wrong. On the same day of this ruling, documents were leaked to the press that should smear Endstra. As a result, Moszkowicz was continuously threatened and he hired bodyguards and eventually went abroad until peace was restored.
Completely unexpectedly, he gave a press conference on May 24, 2007. In this he tried to explain some things and clear his name. Things remained
quiet for the now world-famous lawyer for a long time . His name was cleared somewhat and after a number of successful cases, Moszkowicz was back with a vengeance. This ‘ comeback ‘ was completely reinforced when Moszkowicz attended another international court case. This time he became a lawyer for the Dutch politician Geert Wilders
Wilders was suspected of inciting hate and discrimination. The trial mainly concerned statements in a column by Wilders in which he described Islam as a fascist ideology and wanted to ban the Koran. Because these statements are established and are in principle punishable offences, Moszkowicz would find it difficult to defend his client.
Yet he managed to get Wilders released. The lawyer did not focus on the question of whether Wilders had indeed discriminated, but on the question of whether Wilders had a fair chance in this process. This defense tactic led to several unauthorized statements by the Public Prosecution Service. These comments provided enough defense material for Moszkowicz. On June 23, 20011, Wilders was acquitted.
Disciplinary case
Unfortunately, the most famous lawyer in the Netherlands once again received negative news. This time he really has to fight to preserve his career. He is accused of tax evasion. In several cases he is said to have accepted significant amounts of cash. Some amounts were as high as 20,000. By accepting cash payments and then not registering them, taxes can be evaded. A suitcase with no less than 75,000 dollars was also allegedly handed over to Moszkowicz as payment from Wilders. Neither Moszkowicz nor Wilders confirm this.
Moszkowicz clearly shows that he is not pleased with the disciplinary case. According to him, there are hundreds of lawyers and hundreds of thousands of workers who accepted money in a ‘different’ way.
Nevertheless, Moszkowicz was removed from office by the Discipline Council until the Justice Department and Public Prosecution Service reached a decision. This statement became even less rosy when a former client reported to the Justice Department that Moszkowicz commits fraud and does not keep agreements. A number of other ex-clients subsequently also reported the crime.
But despite this, it turns out on February 26, 2013 that it takes more than seven charges, removal from office by the Discipline Council and a lawsuit against the Public Prosecution Service and Justice to bring down Moszkowicz. The court decided not to prosecute the lawyer criminally.
On April 23, 2013, Moszkowicz was removed from office. This means that he is no longer allowed to practice his profession as a lawyer.
Privately
Moszkowicz has a son from his first marriage and a daughter and a son from his second marriage. So he has three children in total. Unfortunately, his second marriage also failed. This was because Bram Moszkowicz fell in love with Nienke, the winner of his own program ‘The new Moszkowicz’. This relationship lasted a few years until the lawyer met Eva Jinek. They were in a relationship until 2012. This ended suddenly. Moszkowicz indicated that he felt his old feelings for Nienke again. Moszkowicz is currently single.