Former Oranje international Romeo Castelen handed jail term, €2M fine in laundering case

The district court in Zwolle has sentenced former international footballer Romeo Castelen to 18 months in prison, six of which are conditionally suspended, for money laundering. Football scout Owen B. received the same sentence. The prosecution had recommended three years for the 42-year-old Castelen and 18 months for B.

The ex-footballer has been ordered to repay over 2 million euros, and the scout nearly 700,000 euros, money allegedly obtained through criminal means. Castelen was arrested at Schiphol in 2019 after sniffer dogs detected almost 140,000 euros in cash in his luggage. Beyond the cash found at Schiphol, the prosecution alleges that Castelen spent over 2.2 million euros in unexplained cash on items including luxury cars, watches, and real estate.

He claimed the funds came from casino winnings and selling watches, but the prosecution dismissed this as unlikely and suspects he planned to launder the money with the technical director of the Chinese football club Zhejiang Yiteng, where Castelen played in 2017. It is suspected that the money came from corruption related to player transfers.

The forward’s career in the Netherlands included spells at Feyenoord and ADO Den Haag, while in Germany he played for Hamburger SV. He transferred to China in 2017 and represented the Netherlands in ten international matches between 2004 and 2007.

Gerald Roethof, Castelen's lawyer, said his client will appeal the ruling. “The conviction in this case is based solely on my client’s high spending patterns in the period following his impressive football career,” the attorney said.

Roethof further stated, “While his post-career income was modest and did not match his spending at the time, it appears the court overlooked that he earned millions during his football career and built up significant wealth. This fully explains his later expenditures, and we believe the court erred in not considering this.”