Notorious Dutch fake football player faces extradition to the Netherlands

A notorious Dutch amateur football player who pretended to be a professional football player is to be extradited from Colombia to the Netherlands, the Public Prosecution Service announced on Tuesday, as reported by AD.

Bernio V. is wanted in the Netherlands for three cases of theft with violence, one from 2020 and two from 2021, the Public Prosecution Service told AD. The 29-year-old man is allegedly implicated in cases that may include an armed robbery, although the prosecutor has not confirmed this.

V. is originally from Suriname but grew up in Tilburg. He is currently jailed in Colombia after being arrested in the summer of 2021 when a party with sex workers escalated due to his inability to pay.

V. gained notoriety by securing contracts with four football clubs on three continents in 2019 without playing a minute of professional football. With his persuasive skills and forged documents, he landed deals in Transnistria, South Africa, Denmark, and Chile. Each time he left the clubs without ever having played in a match. At Audax Italiano in Chile, he even earned a higher salary than his teammates and purchased a large house, according to AD.

His deception was uncovered by Viborg FF in Denmark in 2019, resulting in his arrest for fraud. The truth became evident due to his lack of skills during the first training session. Danish media have called him “the biggest football fraudster of the 21st century.” “Even after he was arrested, he still said he was a professional football player,” investigative journalist Lasse Vøge told AD.

In court, V. confessed to using fake documents and emails to secure a position with a Danish club, misrepresenting himself as being associated with an international management firm. The amateur football player pleaded guilty to fraud before the Danish court. He was fined 2000 euros.

Following his arrest, the magazine Vice conducted an extensive investigation into his case. The Dutch football federation (KNVB) notably informed the magazine that Verhagen had been a youth player at Willem II, a Dutch club in the second tier of football in the Netherlands, for one year in 2009, and was then registered with three Dutch amateur clubs. KNVB records show Verhagen was registered with Dutch club Den Dungen until 2019. A club member told the magazine at the time that Verhagen played around four games without really standing out.

The timeline for V.'s extradition to the Netherlands remains uncertain. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has given the green light for the procedure, according to AD.