The 24-year-old Uithoornaar, who was arrested in February for phishing and money laundering, was sentenced to 40 months in prison today. The man ran into the lamp when the police discovered that he had paid for his Mercedes in cash in 2018.
That discovery made the police on February 1 of this year, after the police in Uithoorn found a Mercedes that was registered as stolen. The invoice showed that the man had bought the car for 42,000 euros in Italy, and had given that amount in cash to the seller.
fraud
Because the man had already been convicted of fraud, the police suspected that he had been guilty of money laundering. The detectives then started an investigation and discovered that the man was guilty of phishing.
What is phishing?
Phishing is fishing for someone’s data and a form of digital scam. This is done via email, WhatsApp and SMS. For example, victims are lured to a fake website, where they then enter and reveal their bank or other login details.
In less than a week, the man sent more than 100,000 emails asking to click a link. More than half of those messages were sent over an unsecured connection. The server and domain name used to send the emails were paid for from the account of a company owned by the suspect.
crypto
After he was arrested on February 1, several valuable items were found during a search of his house that strengthen the suspicion of money laundering. For example, in addition to 260,000 euros in cash, six tons of cryptocurrencies were also found. The police also found luxury clothing, watches worth 65,000 euros and a gold fake Kalashnikov that is difficult to distinguish from the real thing.
A day later, the investigation turned up even more interesting: in a safe were Pokémon cards worth 8,000 euros and a skull ring worn by an SS officer during World War II (for which the suspect had paid 10,000 euros).
In two weeks, the suspect will hear whether he will be put behind bars for three years and four months, as the Public Prosecution Service wants. In a second court case, the Public Prosecution Service will try to collect criminal assets from the suspect through the courts.