The Public Prosecution Service is paying compensation to more than a hundred victims of the infamous extortion case surrounding the De Groot fruit trade in Hedel. Investigative journalist Yelle Tieleman writes this in the book The Hedel extortion casewhich is released on Tuesday and what it’s about A.D message. The Public Prosecution Service committed a blunder that resulted in sensitive personal data falling into the hands of criminals.
De Groot, one of the largest fruit companies in the Netherlands, found cocaine among bananas sold by the company in 2019. 400 kilos of hard drugs were subsequently seized and destroyed. Shortly afterwards, the owner and employees of De Groot received threatening messages demanding large sums of money. If the demand were not met, an employee of the company would be liquidated. When De Groot refused to pay, main suspect Ali G. ordered a series of attacks with fireworks bombs in 2020 and 2021, in which at least a farmhouse burned down.
Information in the hands of criminals
Some of the attacks were prepared when G. and other suspects were already in prison. It turned out that the names of hundreds of (former) employees of De Groot were included in the criminal file, information to which the suspects also have access and which they used to commit several attacks at the homes of (former) employees. No people were killed, but considerable damage was caused.
Victims united in a foundation and stated that the terror campaign in Hedel would never have gotten so out of hand if this mistake had not been committed. They reported to the Board of Attorneys General, which monitors the functioning of the Public Prosecution Service. The latter will now compensate more than a hundred victims. It is not known what amounts will be paid out.
Last year, G. was sentenced to almost twenty years in prison. That same year, his co-suspect Yassine A. was sentenced to ten years in prison. Six co-suspects who carried out the attacks received prison sentences of between one and a half and eight years.