Dutch cheese & chicken trade funded European terrorist groups

Dutch cheese and chicken may be at the center of a fraudulent trade scheme that made hundreds of thousands of euros. The Danish police believe that this money was used to fund terrorist groups, Dutch newspaper AD reports.

According to the newspaper, this involves large-scale VAT fraud revolving around the now bankrupt company Q Transport in Copenhagen. The company was led by known Danish jihadist and foreign rebel fighter in the Syrian war Abdessamad Fateh. In 2014 the United States put Fateh on its terrorist list due to connections he had with Al-Qaeda. He is now deceased.

Q Transport's bankruptcy documents show that the company bought cheese and chicken from at least four Dutch companies and delivered it to Denmark in 2013. It involved tens of thousands of euros worth of Gouda cheese and chicken, according to the newspaper. Q Transport did not pay any tax on these transactions and often did not pay the companies from which it bought. The documents do not show that the Dutch companies were aware of or played a part in fraudulent activities.

Three of the four Dutch companies refused to comment to the newspaper. The fourth confirmed that it delivered cheese to Q Transport and that the bankrupt company still owe them 50 thousand euros. The cheese company was approached by the Danish police, but did not know what the investigation was related to.

According to the newspaper, Q Transport still owes private company some 800 thousand euros, and the Danish tax authorities some 400 thousand euros. The Danish  police are investigating whether the missing money was used to fund the jihad.