Thieves must repay millions in sensational Schiphol diamond heist, prosecutors say

Despite the suspects claiming they have no idea what happened to the stolen loot, prosecutors said on appeal they want the three main suspects in the infamous 2005 Schiphol Airport diamond heist to cough up millions of euros in criminal gains. The suspects maintained they are financially destitute, and never saw a penny from the theft. Nevertheless, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) made its case for restitution before the Amsterdam Court of Appeal on Friday.

Almost 73 million euros was earned in diamonds and jewelry in the robbery. A large part of the loot, around 43 million dollars, has vanished without a trace. The theft is the largest diamond heist in Dutch history and caused quite a stir because the robbers targeted a cargo platform at the airport that was supposed to be heavily secured.

Three of the robbers were sentenced to 9 and a half years in prison on appeal in December 2021. The partner of passed away and never convicted August B., Esther S. (56), was sentenced to 10,5 months for money laundering. In later proceedings, the court in Haarlem convicted the two robbers, Errol H.V. (59) and Marlon D. (49), to the repayment of almost 1.7 million euros each. Former KLM employee Ramazan N. (49) had to repay nearly 850,000 euros, and S. had to pay around 250,000 euros.

The prosecutor recommended similar figures in the appeal on Friday. The starting point was the so-called recovery value of the never-recovered part of the loot and the suspected division between the robbers. "Perhaps the calculation could be made even more carefully, but there have been no clear explanations that we can use for this," she said.

The amount surprised H.V., who was found and arrested in Ibiza. "I have been convicted for something I have done. This is true. But I am shocked by the fee I have to pay. I do not have that money and have never had that amount. "It was announced earlier that he is working on a documentary about the famous heist. "I am going to say what I have done. Hopefully, I can pay the fee off the proceeds. "

He did not reply to many of the court's questions to keep the suspense in his story. "I will say what happened to the diamonds. But not now." He also vehemently denied allegations that he was the mastermind behind the robbery. "Just as untrue as the fact that I fled. That is not true. I traveled towards the sun during the corona time and started working in Ibiza."