Dutch man arrested in Belgian money laundering investigation

Over the past days the Belgian police arrested three people suspected of money laundering via bitcoins. One of the suspects is a 24-year-old Dutch man called Tommie V., the Telegraaf reports. He was arrested on Saturday.

The other two suspects are Belgian brothers aged 33 and 31 years. According to the Belgian authorities, over the past few months the three suspects exchanged bitcoins for cash or vice versa in numerous transactions involving amounts of at least 5 thousand euros. They offered this service on online market place localbitcoins.com, charging much higher commission than is usual.

The suspects met their clients in public places, like car parks, hotels and fast food restaurants in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

The Belgian police searched a number of addresses in Brussels and seized tens of thousands of euros. At Belgium's request, the Dutch police searched the home of a 22-year-old man in Maastricht last week. He is believed to be one of the suspects' clients. His computer was seized.

The investigation is ongoing.