GRAND RAPIDS, MI (WHTC) – Forgiving grace was apparently shown to a trusted family man and Holland-area community leader who admitted betraying that trust.
Robert Haveman was sentenced today to three and half years in federal prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to repay 11 million dollars in restitution for bilking the trust fund of Elsa Prince Broekhuizen, the widow of Prince Corporation founder Edgar Prince. Haveman had already paid five million dollars back.
The 68-year-old Haveman had pled guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges, as prosecutors claimed the president of a Holland-based management firm used the trust as “his own personal piggy bank” for various failed schemes and expenses over a 16-year period. It is believed that at least 50 million dollars that would have gone to charitable causes were lost as a result of his actions.
Haveman, who has no past criminal record and has worked with authorities in the matter, had nearly 50 pages of written support for him submitted to US District Court Judge Robert Holmes Bell prior to sentencing. Advisory guidelines called for Haveman to serve, at the least, between six and eight years in prison.
