Bram Moszkowicz is the Netherlands’ most famous lawyer and criminal lawyer and is also a top television celebrity. With all the recent commotion surrounding his person, you would almost forget that, as the most important member of a family of lawyers, he is certainly one of the most brilliant lawyers in Dutch history. However, due to, among other things, systematic tax evasion and financial mismanagement, he was permanently removed from the tableau by the Court of Discipline on April 22, 2013. In short, a person to get to know better. Abraham Maarten (Bram) Moszkowicz was born on June 26, 1960 in Maastricht, the youngest son of Max Moszkowicz Sr. and Maria Bertha (Berthe) Bessems. Max Moszkowicz Sr. is a well-known lawyer from the past and founder of the famous law firm Moszko wicz Advocaten.
Family
Max Moszkowicz Sr. was born in Essen, Germany, on October 5, 1926. His parents fled to the Netherlands in 1933, where during the occupation the members of the family were rounded up, deported to Germany and, apart from Max Sr., all murdered in Auschwitz. Max Sr. survives these horrors, returns to the Netherlands and marries Berthe Bessems in 1948, a member of the family where he was taken care of after the war. He suffered a stroke in 2004 and lives a secluded life in Lanaken, Belgium, not far from Maastricht.
The other sons of Max Sr. and Maria are David (1950), Robert (1953) ( called Baruch between 1969 and 1988 ) and Max Jr. (1955), all lawyers. Bram Moszkowicz, hereinafter referred to as ,Moszkowicz,, is of Jewish descent on his father’s side, a fact that in itself would not be relevant if he did not repeatedly refer to it himself. David Moszkowicz was removed from the tableau in 2014 and brother Robert was removed earlier after he was discredited.
Study and start career
Moszkowicz studied law at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), where he stood out for his formal attitude and serious approach to his studies. He was mainly focused on practice and found the study rather theoretical. Even during his studies, he followed his father’s pleas, from which he says he learned a lot. He graduated in 1984 and then joined his father’s partnership, where he would manage the Amsterdam branch until 2012.
On May 15, 2012, the partnership of Bram, David and Max Jr. Moszkowicz was dissolved and therefore the relationship with the Maastricht branch was broken.
Career as a criminal lawyer
In the following years, Moszkowicz amassed an impressive file of criminal cases, in which he did not shy away from dealing with cases in the public eye, such as:
- 1996/8 Defense of Johan V., nicknamed De Hakkelaar (together with Max Sr.)
- 1997 Defense of Desi Bouterse, the then Surinamese army leader and drug lord
- 2003 Defense of André de Vries, main suspect in the fireworks disaster in Enschede
- 2005/7 Defense Willem Holleeder, top criminal and, among others, kidnapper of Freddy Heineken
- 2010/11 Defense Geert Wilders
Although many of his cases led to an acquittal, there is increasing criticism from the legal profession of Mos Zkowicz’s working methods and public behavior. His desire for media attention increasingly emphasizes qualities such as showmanship and vanity, which puts his credibility and integrity under pressure.
Media attention
Moszkowicz regularly appears as a crime expert in the RTL program Boulevard and in 2005 he presented a talent show for emerging lawyers, De Nieuwe Moszkowicz , at the AVRO . In addition to his contribution to the Zomergasten (2007) and College Tour (2012) programs, he is a popular guest on various talk shows, not least the current affairs program Pauw & Witteman.
Lawyer Bram Moszkowicz in disrepute
He has been discredited several times in his career, not least due to the suspicion of tax evasion, which he himself describes as ,a business dispute with the tax authorities,. Already in the earlier years of his career, Moszkowicz was reprimanded by the Discipline Board in the Amsterdam jurisdiction. This council is the disciplinary board established by law that handles complaints about lawyers who have offices in the district of Alkmaar, Amsterdam and Haarlem.
Bram Moszkowicz removed from the tableau
The decision of the Discipline Council was made at a later date that Moszkowicz should be removed from the list due to, among other things, failure to fulfill commitments he had made to clients, accepting cash payments and failure to provide sufficient legal assistance. This ruling means that Moszkowicz is no longer allowed to practice as a lawyer. He appealed against this ruling to the Court of Discipline, on which occasion he was deeply saddened and promised improvement. On April 22, 2013, he was expelled for life by the Court of Discipline.
Private life
Moszkowicz has been married twice. He has a son from his first marriage and from his second marriage, with civil lawyer Juliëtte Polak, he has two children, a son Nathan and a daughter Chaya. In 2009 he left her for Nienke Hoogervorst, known as the winner of the program The New Moszkowicz. Between 2010 and 2012 he had a relationship with former NOS newsreader and TV presenter Eva Jinek and then a short relationship with Gaby Hingst.
The crime novel Mafia buddy
At the end of 2013, the crime novel Mafiamaat was published, which he wrote together with his friend, the writer Leon de Winter. The main character in the book, Benjamin Mendel, is clearly based on his own person and the complications of this Mendel largely correspond to his own turbulent activities. By the way, Mendel does embark on a criminal path, hence the title Mafia buddy , which he claims not to have been guilty of. The title refers to the title that Jord Kelder once gave him in an interview.
Lawyer Mosczkowics in Amsterdam
He lived at the address of Moszkowicz Advocaten, at Herengracht 464 in Amsterdam, but sold this building for 2.6 million in mid-2014. Since it is mortgaged for slightly more than this amount, he has left nothing from the sale and his debt to the tax authorities and other creditors is estimated at 5.5 million. From that moment on, he lived in an apartment on the Amstel and was for a short time party leader of the political party VoorNederland (VNL). It soon became apparent that some party members did not like him and he left again. In 2017, he joined the law firm of Nienke Hoogervorst as a legal advisor.
Bankrupt
On December 19, 2019, the Central Netherlands court declared him bankrupt, after which lawyer Marco Guit was appointed curator. the intention now is to sell any assets to pay outstanding debts. This bankruptcy does make it more difficult for Mosczkowics to work as a criminal lawyer again.