Stefan Huijboom again in controversy

Yesterday a warning about Stefan Huijboom appeared on the Kiev expat Facebook group. Yanka Dudenko warned the over a thousand members of the group about Stefan's practices, and many others responded. But what happened?

"Could you call my lawyer to ask what I should do if I do get stopped at the border?" asked Stefan Huijboom to me yesterday afternoon. Stefan was on his way from Kiev to Moscow. Earlier today, a warning about Stefan appeared on Kiev's expat Facebook group. Yanka Dudenko warned the group's 1,000-plus members about Stefan's practices, including allegedly stealing $300 during the time he had stayed with her. He also allegedly tried to withdraw money from Yanka's account last week by forging checks. When I confront Stefan about this during one of our conversations, he adamantly denies the allegations. "It's not true!

Beirut
This is not the first time Stefan has been compromised, earlier this year Stefan was briefly detained in Beirut due to credit card fraud. Only when the misappropriated amount of $800 was paid will Stefan be released. I spoke to him about it especially earlier this year. Stefan has also been detained in the Netherlands in the past for fraud.

Graham: He's in debt everywhere
Pretty soon after Yanka shares her message on the expat group, it is shared dozens of times and comments pour in. For example, Huijboom allegedly duped a real estate agent in Kiev, pays middlemen poorly or not at all, and has walked out of a hostel in Donbass, among other places, without paying. Colleagues in the region confirm Huijboom's debts, as does Graham Phillips 'He has debts everywhere, he pays nothing, almost everyone who knows him has something outstanding, he is always asking for money!'

Daams: Sad and nauseating
'I think this guy is incorrigible when it comes to these kinds of 'incidents,' Tom Daams says in an interview. 'It just sounds super familiar, people take him under his wing and share all kinds of things with him, but when he's in the red with people, he disappears again just as easily. What really irritated me were the lies about everything, from small to big. Lies about, for example, that after he borrowed money from poor young Ukrainians, he really paid it back 100%. And then I ask the persons from whom he borrowed that money and then what he claimed turns out not to be true. Very sad and sickening'.

Stefan: 'I had paid most of the hotel at the time, he was out with me for an AD reportage for which he also got 150 euros, and suddenly he was gone, and then I had to deal with that fixer. Tom Daams didn't pay that fixer a cent. And what that fixer says, that I tried to write off money, I am also hearing now for the first time. Never a phone call, police or trouble at the border, so this is purely blackmailing someone.'

Stanislav: Suddenly he was gone
Freelance photographer Stanislav Demianiuk sent me several print screens with photos of articles that included his photos. He would pay me as soon as he got paid. At one point he disappeared and had blocked me on social media. Another acquaintance of mine he still owes money and from my father's bank account he tried to debit money. I gave him my father's account number because he wanted to transfer money to it, said Stanislav

Commenting, Stefan let it be known that in September 2014 it was life-threatening in Donetsk. 'There were no ATMs. So you had to go to safe area in Ukraine for working banks, which I then did to pay for the hostel, but it was so dangerous that I didn't think it was responsible to go that way again. Two or three months later, when I was there again, the hostel was closed and I could not bring the 30 euros converted. In these other accusations I do not recognize myself.

The lying continues.
Last month Stefan was invited to speak about the Ukraine referendum at Forza! When I ask Stefan afterwards if he had been, he confirms 'Yep, back here by now. Didn't amount to much'. Paul Meijer, group chairman at Forza! informs me in a reaction that Stefan didn't show up, Meijer confirms in the conversation that Forza! advanced the plane ticket for Stefan. 'We want to see that money back, and are prepared to file charges if he doesn't pay it back. Stefan also asked for an advance on his further expenses, fortunately we decided not to give him that. When I hear the stories like this, I assume I'm not going to see the money for the plane ticket back. After our conversation, Meijer, in an email to Huijboom, gives him 12 hours to come up with the money before taking follow-up steps. And Meijer is not alone, an acquaintance of Stefan's who recently lent him money so Stefan would not be evicted from his apartment, confirms to me that he is willing to file a collective report if necessary. 'I believe in his goodness as a human being. A good person who seems to make bad choices. Reporting him is the worst case scenario'

Stefan confirms the recovery of airline ticket costs. 'According to my lawyer, it's a civil matter. I'll leave it at that.'

Yanka's Facebook post
According to Yanka's Facebook post where it all started, Stefan stole $300 during his stay with her, Stefan reacts surprised to the accusation. 'She said back then that money disappeared, I have nothing to do with that. I think she is angry with me because I promised to pay for her nursery, a promise I later had to withdraw because I didn't have the money for it. Yanka's Facebook post shows pictures of two bank checks in Stefan's name, totaling $82,995. Yanka confirms that the amount was never charged to her and shows me through a print screen from her bank that the money is on reserve. "The bank has started an investigation, until the investigation is complete it will remain on reserve. Yanka says she has filed a report against Stefan. Stefan, in a response, says he has never seen the checks. 'It's not even my handwriting.' Stefan does confirm to me, however, that the account number is correct.

There are also reactions to Yanka's post from Dutch journalism, for example, journalist Eefje Dekker says she still owes Stefan 300 euros from the time he worked in the Middle East "Be warned, this man is seriously ill," Dekker said in a response to Yanka's post.

Stefan: "I am as surprised as anyone else, but as long as it remains only accusations on the Internet, I know something else is going on. Perhaps a conspiracy given my recent work for RT and Sputnik! Today I consulted a lawyer who will assist me if these absurd allegations lead to an arrest. For now, I point out that there are figures committing crimes online by throwing my old passport data on the Internet and defaming me.'

Family member: I just gave him money yesterday.
'I do believe Yanka,' a relative of Stefan's says to me in one of our conversations. 'A while back he was with us again begging for money and then he told us to wait until a check was approved, he would receive a lot of money. I'm paralyzed, Michel. He is so terribly shrewd. I gave him 70 euros yesterday via Western Union because he had nothing.

Stefan: No one called me.
Stefan says he hasn't had a call from anyone. 'If the police were to call me, I am willing to talk, I find it strange that they don't call me when a report has been made. I also marvel at people who, without asking me anything, take all this as truth without question. Stefan indicates that he has engaged a lawyer to see how to deal with this.