Violent robbery of bitcoin trader included water boarding and a power drill

Tjeerd H., a 39-year-old bitcoin trader who was robbed and tortured in his home in Drouwenerveen last year, was assaulted, water boarded, had holes drilled in his leg and foot, and hung from his neck, he said in a video Dagblad van het Noorden has in its possession.

On February 10th last year, Tjeerd H. and is 4-year-old daughter were robbed in their Drenthe home. The girl was locked up, but wasn't hurt. H., on the other hand, was tortured for more than an hour by three attackers, who were dressed as members of a police SWAT team, he said in the video.

His hands were tied behind his back and he was hung from his neck. The perpetrators filled the bath with the aim of drowning him. "Then they put the shower hose in my mouth and filled me with water," H. said. The perpetrators used a masonry drill to drill seven holes in his left leg and foot. They beat him, kicked him and pointed a gun at his head, H. said.

Nearly a year later, H. and his family are still in hiding. They've "been threatened with death several times over the past period", he said in the video, according to the newspaper.

H. was the owner of the now-closed bitcoin trading company TravelFlex. Dozens of people are looking for him, holding him responsible for money they lost. Investors and former employees called the company a fraud, according to Dagblad van het Noorden. They said that millions of euros just disappeared, promises were not kept, and former employees are still waiting for salary. H. strongly denies these allegations.

Whether the attack on H. had to do with his company, is not clear.