Five arrested in €1 million money laundering case

A total of five people were arrested last week on suspicion of involvement in the laundering of around 1 million euros in criminally earned money, the Public Prosecutor said on Monday. While searching various properties, the authorities seized almost 200 thousand euros in cash, multiple vehicles, expensive watches, drugs, and two firearms.

The main suspects in this case are a 41-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman from the municipality of Westland. The FIOD, the Tax Authority's investigative department, launched this investigation after the Tax Authority noticed that the couple's income did not match their lifestyle. For example, the couple had rented a luxury car and bought a house without a mortgage. "It is suspected that all of this was paid for with income from crime, such as drug trafficking."

The couple was arraigned and remanded into custody for 14 days on Friday. As was a 42-year-old man. The police caught him jumping out of the window of a commercial property just as it was about to e raided. He is suspected of money  laundering and the possession of an automatic firearm. The two other suspects were arrested in homes that were raided. In those homes the police found weapons and ammunition. The two were released from custody, but are still suspects in this case.

The FIOD and police searched a total of five properties in this investigation - a house and a garage in Westland, a house in Zoetermeer, and a house and a commercial property in The Hague. Investigators seized drugs, digital and physical administration, property, bank accounts, almost 200 thousand euros in cash, four cars, a motor scooter, three scooters, a water scooter, a dirt bike, and seven Rolex watches found hidden behind some baseboards.