Dutch police arrest 4 for laundering online gambling profits
News on 15 Nov 2013
News on 15 Nov 2013
The National Prosecution Office in Holland announced Thursday the arrest of four men by Dutch police on charges of large-scale money laundering of profits allegedly derived from illegal online gambling operations.
The arrested men come from different towns in the Netherlands, although the scope of the police action indicates cross-border activity, with prosecutors claiming to the NL Times that around Euro 110 million was laundered through a complex structure of domestic and foreign companies .
The arrested men, who have not so far been named, reportedly earned Euros 30 to 50 million from their laundering activities.
Prosecutors also revealed that the police investigation has been ongoing since May 2013, with some eighty houses and business premises seized in the Netherlands , Belgium , Spain, and Germany.
The homes of the suspects, and over a hundred bank accounts have also been confiscated.
These revelations have triggered speculation that the present case may in some way be related to a major Dutch enforcement action involving 150 officers earlier this year in which the Bubble Group of online gambling websites was named
Bubble Group and its subsidiary Sheriff Gaming have since vehemently denied any wrongdoing in the earlier case, although its Alderney Gaming Control Commission licence remains mysteriously suspended.
NL Times reports that the main suspect in the current case is a 33-year-old man from Geldrop, who apparently earned his starting capital from trade in soft drugs, which he invested in real estate and illegal online gambling.
With his 35 -year-old brother from Terneuzen he is a shareholder of several companies, which own a variety of properties. Together they own over Euro 10 million in Spanish property assets, the newspaper reports.
The brothers and a 35-year-old suspect from Best are allegedly directly involved in illegal online gambling . The fourth suspect is a 60 -year-old Dutchman who lives in Turnhout . He is the financial advisor of the other three suspects.
