Johan Houwers (born 4 October 1957 inWinterswijk,Netherlands) is a Dutch politician andreal estate broker. As a member of thePeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie) he was anMP from 26 October 2010 to 20 September 2012. He focused on matters ofgreenhouses,fishery,hunting,animal welfare,spatial planning andwater. From 8 November 2012, he once again was an MP, resigning on 22 July 2013, following to a mortgage fraud investigation.[1] He served as an independent MP between 25 March 2015 and 23 March 2017.[2]
Houwers was a member of themunicipal council of Winterswijk from 1990 to 2002, and again between 11 March 2010 and 5 July 2012. From 1990 to 1994, and again since 2010, he was VVDfraction leader. From 1994 to 2001, he was also analderman and from 1999 to 2010, a member of theStates of Gelderland.[2]
Houwers studiedsocial geography (BA) as well asurban planning (MA) atRadboud University Nijmegen.
After the possible return of thewolf to the Netherlands, Houwers mentioned that if the population numbers rose, wolves should be shot so they would not present a harm to society. Houwers clashed with the coalitionLabour Party politicianLutz Jacobi on the topic.[3]
On 22 July 2013, Houwers resigned his seat after it was revealed that the police started an investigation into him concerning possible mortgage fraud.Aegon andRabobank, the mortgage providers, filed charges against him because he did not represent his income correctly. On 31 July, justice authorities seized Houwers' property in Winterswijk for 1 million euro. Houwers said he would wait for the outcome of the investigation before responding to the press.[4] On 16 March 2015, he was found guilty of forgery and fraud and had to pay a fine of €4000.[5][6] According to the fraction leader of the VVD in Parliament,Halbe Zijlstra, he could not return as an MP for the VVD.[7]
