Sentences up to 2 years in Dutch money laundering case
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Suspects Stijn F., Maurice G. and Michel G. assumed they were operating in a ‘gray market’ with their online gambling enterprise. However, after a lengthy 4-year criminal investigation by the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service, they are now sentenced to up to 2 years in prison.
Stijn F. and brothers Maurice and Michel G. were found guilty of laundering money derived from their illegal online casinos. They were also found guilty of leading a criminal organization.
There were 27 suspects in this case, with Stijn, Maurice and Michel being the main suspects. The court regards the group as a criminal organization, breaking the law on games of chance for many years in a row. Main suspect Stijn F. does not agree and voiced his opinion in ‘Het Financieele Dagblad’ (Dutch economic newspaper): “I did not do anything illegal. It is arbitrariness. The Public Prosecution Service now prosecutes us, while the Netherlands Gaming Authority (NGA) does not take any action against dozens of online casinos”.
The three main suspects earned over 100 million euro through 7 illegal online casinos between 2007 and 2013. The Public Prosecution Service estimated that a profit of around 50 million euro was made during this period. The money was consequently intricately channeled away and laundered. The online casinos owned by the suspects were hosted in Costa Rica, the country of choice for many online casino operators.
Back in 2011, Stijn, Maurice and Michel were still on Quote Magazine’s list of ‘Young, self-made millionaires’. One year later, the Ministry of Security and Justice started compiling a list of online casinos that met all their conditions and therefore would be tolerated. These casinos wouldn’t have to worry about being prosecuted. Amsterdamscasino.com, one of the online casinos owned by Stijn F, was also on this list. Another year later, in November 2013, the suspects’ online gambling empire started to crumble: after a large police raid, amsterdamscasino.com and fruitluck.com, among other websites, got pulled offline. Authorities also seized over 100 bank accounts and 80 buildings.
With the websites offline, the suspects missed out on tens of millions of euros in profit. After the court suspended the case for an undetermined period of time, Stijn F. saw his chance to file a claim against the State. A 75-million-euro claim, compensation for the 4-year long criminal investigation by the Public Prosecution Service. According to Stijn F., the Public Prosecution Service caused the bankruptcy of his enterprise Bubble Group. Bubble Group developed online gambling games, and acted under different trade names, among which Sheriff Gaming. Also, Stijn F. claimed to have a letter from the NGA proving that his websites were tolerated, according to the list compiled by the Ministry of Security and Justice. The letter states: ‘The board will follow their own guidelines, pointing out NGA’s responsibility and the priorities to be set. Providers on the ‘gray list’, given that they comply to the set conditions, will not be prosecuted. Click here to download the complete letter.
It took the court of Den Bosch no less than 24 days in session to finally sentence the three main suspects to up to 24 months in prison. Besides that, each of the three main suspects must pay a 100.000 euro fine. The Public Prosecution Service had also demanded a 2-year prison sentence for lawyer Annette M. The court however deemed that she had remained within the bounds of her profession and was found not guilty. Several financial advisors did get convicted for large-scale money laundering and forgery. Besides professional bans of 3 years, the advisors were also sentenced to carry out community service.
Source: gratisgokken.nl
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