Johan Eleveld
Dutch finance director of Mayday Rescue; central figure in the 2019–2020 financial allegations against James Le Mesurier and Emma Winberg; later ordered by a Dutch court to repay funds
| Johan Eleveld | |
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| Nationality | Dutch |
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| Occupation | Finance director; company director; consultant |
| Known for | Chief financial officer / finance director of Mayday Rescue (White Helmets support organisation); pursued allegations against James Le Mesurier and Emma Winberg; subject of court order to repay money to Mayday |
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Johan Eleveld is a Dutch finance professional who served as chief financial officer / finance director of the Mayday Rescue Foundation, the principal implementing partner for Western government support to the White Helmets (Syria Civil Defence). Hired in August 2018, he became central to the cascade of financial allegations that followed the $50,000 emergency-fund episode and that preceded the death of founder James Le Mesurier in November 2019. Subsequent forensic work by Grant Thornton and a Dutch court found no evidence of misappropriation by Le Mesurier or Emma Winberg, while identifying Eleveld himself as the only employee who had unjustly enriched himself. A court ordered him to repay approximately €18,000. He has a prior history of involvement with bankrupt companies, including the solar-energy firm Enforsa.[1][2]
Role at Mayday Rescue
Eleveld was hired in August 2018 after an earlier candidate withdrew. He was subsequently promoted to finance director. In late 2019 he arranged for the Dutch firm SMK Audit to examine a UK-funded project (Batal 19), insisting the auditor be Dutch and selected by him alone—an approach later noted as inconsistent with good procurement practice. At a meeting in early November 2019 (four days before Le Mesurier’s death) the SMK assessment flagged issues including a backdated receipt connected to the $50,000 cash withdrawal Le Mesurier had taken for the 2018 “Magic Carpet” / southern-Syria evacuation operation. Le Mesurier immediately admitted to the forged receipt and offered to resign.
After Le Mesurier’s death Eleveld briefed the newly appointed chair Cornelis Vrieswijk and others with a series of allegations against Le Mesurier and Winberg (including claims of luxury personal expenditure). He was the sole remaining board member for a period and, on behalf of the foundation, caused a letter to be sent suspending Winberg and accusing her of unlawfully enriching herself. Dutch officials, relying in part on conversations with Eleveld, referred to “suspected fraud” and large “dubious cash withdrawals.” Eleveld was suspended as statutory director on 13 March 2020 and dismissed on 30 April 2020.[1][2][3]
Grant Thornton findings and court order
A four-month forensic investigation by Grant Thornton, commissioned after Le Mesurier’s death at the urging of donors, concluded that there was “no evidence of misappropriation of funds.” The cash withdrawals by Le Mesurier and Winberg “were justified and are accounted for”; the $50,000 emergency-fund episode was “a result of a misunderstanding.” Book-keeping was described as sloppy, but the leadership had maintained high integrity in a complex wartime environment. The same investigation identified Eleveld as the only employee who had unjustly enriched himself: he had given himself a substantial raise, paid himself additional bonuses and reimbursed himself for allegedly unused vacation days that the auditors concluded he had in fact taken. On 30 June 2020 a Dutch court ordered him to repay over €18,000 to Mayday. Winberg and others have stated that Eleveld’s allegations and conduct contributed to the pressure that preceded Le Mesurier’s death and to the subsequent collapse of the organisation; Eleveld has declined detailed public comment, citing a non-disclosure agreement.[1][2][4]
Prior business history
Before Mayday, Eleveld had been involved with companies that later failed. At the solar-energy firm Enforsa he was a senior manager; after its bankruptcy the new leadership stated that the company had been “properly looted.” He transferred approximately €190,000 to a company (3C BV) on whose supervisory board he sat; a related investigation continued for years. He also failed to repay a personal loan of €10,000 from the firm. He has been associated with multiple bankruptcies. These facts were reported by DER SPIEGEL, De Groene Amsterdammer and others after his Mayday role became public.[1][4]
See also
External links
- DER SPIEGEL, December 2021
- The Guardian, October 2020
- BBC, February 2021
- De Groene Amsterdammer, September 2021
- Mayday Rescue Foundation (Wikipedia)
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Christoph Reuter, Deadly Intrigue: The Story of the Destruction of an Aid Organization DER SPIEGEL, 9 December 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Martin Chulov, How Syria’s disinformation wars destroyed the co-founder of the White Helmets The Guardian, 27 October 2020.
- ↑ Chloe Hadjimatheou, Mayday: How the White Helmets and James Le Mesurier got pulled into a deadly battle for truth BBC News, 27 February 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tjitske Lingsma and Minka Nijhuis, We were their only hope De Groene Amsterdammer, 12 September 2021.