Diep gevallen. De malversaties van De Geer en Lefèvre de Montigny

Samenvatting

Fallen Deeply. The Fraudulent Ways of De Geer and Lefevre de Montigny. A case study of the trial and its aftermath following the scandal surrounding Theodoor Anne Carel de Geer and Johan Jacob Lefevre de Motigny, two directors of large financial institutions in the Netherlands who were caught in a multimillion-guilder embezzlement scheme in 1905. The social backgrounds of the two patrician criminals are examined, followed by an analysis of the prevalent opinion that class-based justice clearly influenced their trial and incarceration. The social downfall of both protagonists after their incarceration is described, and implications for their families are assessed. Although the men were never rehabilitated and spent the rest of their lives lonely and in relative poverty, their children were given the opportunity to recover their social standing and even to have public careers. De Geer's descendants, who belonged to a long line of nobility, even managed to clear the family name of blame. Adapted from the source document.