Van Gogh Museum burglar convicted of fraud for collecting dead father’s state pension

The court in Amsterdam has sentenced 52-year-old Octave Durham to 240 hours of community service and a conditionally suspended jail sentence of three months for fraud. He has wrongfully collected his deceased father's AOW benefit for years, for a total of more than 50,000 euros. Durham, nicknamed Okkie, first became known to the country due to the theft of two paintings from the Van Gogh Museum in 2002.

The magistrate handed out a smaller sentence than the recommendation by the Public Prosecution Service (OM), which was nine months in prison. Prosecutors claimed that Durham embezzled over 127,000 euros in ten years, but the proven amount was lower because part of the period in which the embezzlement took place had expired.

Okkie appeared relieved that he was able to appear in court for fraud. “I knew that this was going to happen sometime.” He told the court that he was not after the benefit money, but he was afraid that he was going to loss his parental home where lived at the time in Suriname after the passing of his father in 2013.

However, the court stated that it has been determined that it was about the money for Durham. “You also could have kept it and given it back, but you spent it.”

Durham said that the fraud happened during a tumultuous time in his life, in which he was trying to escape a life of crime. The court took this into account when delivering the verdict. “I can understand that you did not always have the easiest of times.”

The suspect said that he has now left the criminal world behind him. “I only want to do good things,” he said. The former thief said that he is currently working with art detective Arthur Brand to help recapture stolen art. “What he does in ten years of investigation is three hours of messaging for me.” Brand was also present in the court.

In addition, Durham said that he is looking for a job to keep young people out of crime. “I sincerely hope that you are successful in making a positive contribution to society,” the court said at the end of the hearing.