Two men stole over €100,000 from the hospice in Ermelo

Two men stole over €100,000 from the hospice in Ermelo. They took the hospice’s debit card and went on a shopping spree in Amsterdam, Zaandam, and Antwerp, buying luxury items, Omroep Gelderland reports.

Treasurer Marcel Celie discovered the theft when checking the hospice’s account after returning from holiday. “I saw that payments had been made with one of our debit cards for very large sums at luxury stores in Amsterdam and Zaandam,” the treasurer told the broadcaster. “We never make card payments; we always do everything digitally.”

Footage of the two men enjoying their shopping spree was shown in the investigative program Plaats Delict on RTV Oost and Omroep Gelderland.

The police are investigating how the suspects got hold of the debit card and its PIN, and suspect phishing. Celie thinks they stole the card from the mailbox.

Celie is annoyed that the two men used money intended for the care of terminally ill people in the final stages of their lives for their own luxuries. “With that money, we could do things that would make their lives much more pleasant.”