Am I being rightly summoned?

Questioner

For a while I kept the administration of a VvE. I received compensation for this, approved by the then chairman of the VvE. However, the then chairman slyly funneled some money to his own account, brought in some friends as suppliers and never received approval from the VvE. I can say with certainty that I was NOT part of this. I am now being summoned to pay back the full compensation received (unfairly, they think). However, quite a lot of work went into it. The hours of this have been recorded. As far as I am concerned, this falls under directors' liability and the negligent ex-chairman is to be blamed for this. So, if one finds that the compensation was unjustified, it can be recovered from the ex-chairman. Am I missing something here?

Lawyer

If you only did the bookkeeping and therefore had no part in the alleged disappearance of funds, I see no reason to reclaim the compensation you received. As you rightly state, work was done for that. If the VVE believes it does have a case, it will have to go to court and reclaim the amount in question from you. The court will then assess whether there was alleged breach of contract (or perhaps unlawful conduct) as a result of which the VVE rightly terminated the contract of assignment.