Nieuw-Vennep man convicted for misleading parents about umbilical cord stem cells

A man from Nieuw-Vennep, aged 44, has been sentenced to a six-month conditionally suspended jail term and 240 hours of community service for scamming the parents of infants. By providing misleading information, he convinced parents to pay for the storage of their babies’ biological material, suggesting the stem cells could later be used to treat diseases. He was not permitted to offer such services because he did not have the necessary certification. The Gelderland court said 21 parents fell victim to the fraud.

Prosecutors had recommended a 12-month prison sentence, including a suspended portion of four months, and also sought a professional ban. The court rejected those requests. The man was, however, ordered to repay his victims more than 25,000 euros in total, matching the sums they had paid for the storage of biological material.

In 2013, the man set up a company called Navelstreng Bloedbank. Through the business, he collected and stored umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord tissue, and baby teeth belonging to the children of the parents he defrauded, falsely portraying the operation as an officially accredited institution.

He assured parents that the stored stem cells amounted to a “life insurance” against illnesses like leukemia and diabetes, even though the absence of proper certification meant the quality of the storage could not be guaranteed at all.

A key point for the victims is the court’s finding that much of the stored umbilical cord blood and tissue has become medically unusable. Improper cooling and the lack of an approved protocol meant the stem cells lost their viability.

The court noted that the parents were not only victims of financial fraud, but also lost a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have biological material from their newborns stored properly.

The Gelderland court handed down a lighter sentence than recommended by prosecutors, citing the fact that the offenses dated back to 2013–2017. The prolonged course of the case was considered in the defendant’s favor.

The court dismissed the prosecution’s recommendation for a professional ban, noting that the man now works in an entirely different sector and that the risk of repeat offenses in the medical field was considered low.

Stem cell storage from umbilical cord blood is tightly regulated in the Netherlands. Only organizations holding a special permit under the Safety and Quality of Human Tissue and Blood Products Act (Wvkl) may carry out such storage. Sanquin’s public stem cell bank is the most widely recognized accredited provider.