Criminal network has bought hundreds of Amsterdam homes through mortgage fraud: report

Since at least 2018, a criminal network connected to the cocaine trade has bought or brokered hundreds of Amsterdam homes through mortgage fraud. The Amsterdam authorities discovered this last year during an investigation into drug hiding places. The homes are used to store drugs, as safe houses for criminals, and to house migrant workers, the Amsterdam police and Public Prosecution Service (OM) told the Financieele Dagblad.

Detectives accidentally discovered the criminal network during an investigation into the builders of hidden spaces for drugs, a financial crime team leader of the Amsterdam police told FD. They asked to remain anonymous. “During that investigation, we came across a real estate agent who offered warehouses and homes to the drug world.” A follow-up investigation revealed that this realtor was the kingpin in a criminal organization specializing in committing mortgage fraud, the detective said.

The criminal network included the real estate agent, mortgage advisors, and administration officers. They arranged false employer statements, fake salary slips, and enhanced companies’ annual accounts in order to deceive banks. “We even saw fictitious monthly wage payments made to the applicants’ bank accounts,” the detective said. “Anything to give the mortgage lender the illusion that the customer had a well-paid job.” The criminal network charged 7,000 to 12,000 euros per mortgage on top of the brokerage and commission that the customer paid to the broker and mortgage advisor.

According to the police, this criminal network took out dozens of mortgages using false documents in 2023. The police suspect that is the tip of the iceberg, as the group has been active on a large scale since at least 2018.

The police identified six mortgage advisors involved in the criminal organization. On average, they submitted forged mortgage applications twice a month. Since 2018, that adds up to at least 800 mortgages arranged with falsified documents. That’s 800 homes removed from the Amsterdam housing stock at a time that the Nehterlands faces a massive housing shortage. “The fraud also affects ordinary citizens who did comply with the rules and saw homes pass them by,” the Amsterdam prosecutor Ursula Weitzel told the newspaper.

In May, the police arrested ten people as part of this investigation. Since then, investigators have identified another 12 suspects. All of them work in real estate, at administration offices, or as mortgage advisors. They are suspected of fraud, forgery, and money laundering.