Alex Rolf Van Der Zwaan
Allegation / charges
Breaches
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
Alex Rolf van der Zwaan, a former Skadden associate, made false statements to the US Special Counsel's Office on 3 November 2017 about his communications with Rick Gates and Konstantin Kilimnik and about an undisclosed September 2016 email, in connection with the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election. He pleaded guilty to making false statements under Section 1001(a)(2) of Title 18 of the US Code, and was sentenced on 3 April 2018 to 30 days' imprisonment and a USD 20,000 fine. The SDT, dealing with the matter on the papers via an Agreed Outcome, found his conduct breached Principles 1, 2 and 6 and was dishonest. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay GBP 3,095 costs.
Duties found breached:
Aggravating factors:
- Misconduct involved dishonesty
- Misconduct was deliberate
- Misconduct undertaken to protect his position at Skadden
- Misconduct undertaken in a high-level formal interview where total honesty was expected
- Dishonesty led to criminal proceedings and criminal penalties
- Held a position of trust with nearly 9 years' experience
- Attracted high level of international publicity
Mitigating factors:
- Incorrect answers brought no benefit to him and he corrected the position
- He voluntarily came forward to correct his statements, which led to his conviction
- Conduct was out of character with previously unblemished career and good references
- Acted under significant personal and professional stress (health issues, family medical condition, marriage, heavy workload)
- Made the decision in a panicked state at the end of an intense 8-hour interview
- Demonstrated remorse, insight and accepted full responsibility