Police hold two suspects for systematic cooking oil fraud

By Janene Pieters on March 26, 2015 - 14:36
Taisugar_Sunflower_Oil_2L_2011-03-21
Sunflower cooking oil (Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Solomon203). (Sunflower cooking oil (Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Solomon203))

The police arrested a bookkeeper of an administrative office from Alblasserdam and the owner of a shipping company in Rotterdam in Eindhoven yesterday. This was done as part of a criminal investigation into an alleged criminal organization suspected of involvement in fraud in the trade of edible oils.

The criminal organization - which consists of about 20 natural and legal persons - is suspected of marking pure oil as oil waste for transport on shiploads.  Pure oil is a lot more expensive than oil waste. According to the Public Prosecutor, the suspects could have earned millions of euros with these black market dealings.

The police searched both the home and the office of the bookkeeper and seized administration and assets, such as vehicles. There may be more arrests in this case in the coming weeks.

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