The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) has arrested two men aged 31 and 39 from Amsterdam and Assendelft. The FIOD suspects that the detainees, along with a 30-year-old woman from Landsmeer, committed money laundering and are members of a criminal organization. The authorities searched residences in Amsterdam and Landsmeer. They seized two cars, designer bags and shoes, a money counting machine, and cash during this search operation.
The FIOD’s investigation began after the Schiphol customs office noted that a woman frequently exported expensive luxury watches to the EU, demanding substantial VAT payments each time. The FIOD discovered that the woman’s niece is the 30-year-old suspect who smuggled the expensive watches back into the Netherlands. The 31-year-old detainee, who is in a relationship with the 30-year-old suspect, allegedly led the fraudulent operation. He hired the 39-year-old detainee, who works in a big jewelry chain.
The authorities suspect that jewelers invested large sums of illicit funds in many luxurious watches. The jewelry store employee provided fake purchase receipts so the other suspects could falsely claim a VAT refund at Schiphol. They fraudulently claimed that the luxury watches were exported to the EU, but bulks of watches were brought into the Netherlands after VAT payment.
Source: Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD), Netherlands