The Public Prosecution Service of the Netherlands has demanded a prison sentence of 18 months and a fine of €10,000 for a 40-year-old detainee upon suspicion of money laundering and the possession of 174 pills with MDMA. The public prosecutor also demanded forfeiture of the laundered money (€100,900 or $115,687, €21,700 or $24,880 and part of a bitcoin). The prosecutor also demanded the confiscation of the 174 MDMA pills seized from the suspect.
The National Public Prosecutor’s Office started an investigation in February 2020, after receiving information about a person engaged in drug trade and the laundering of illicit proceeds. They tapped the phone of one of the suspects, which led them to overhear a pertinent conversation in March 2020. Following the suspect, the police reached Amsterdam where money was transferred among four people. The suspect currently on trial was the one who received the money in Amsterdam.
Authorities suspect that the detainee laundered large sums of money and part of a bitcoin. While searching the suspect’s house, the investigators found a bag of money concealed in the bathroom. This bag had two other bags inside it, one carrying €13,000 ($14,905) in cash while the other €7,700 ($8,828). More money and bitcoin were then seized from a hall closet. Notably, this was the third arrest in the ongoing money laundering case.