Money laundering offences land Dutch man, his Thai wife in jail for a long time

[Boatfreak]

Please be a good journalist and report the correct facts. He is sentenced for money laundering crime in the Netherlands. The soft drugs business was in the Netherlands and fully legal. A big f..ck up of the Dutch government. 

[johnarth]

not make sense if he made the money before he came here  then transferred money here to live a happy life meaning he did not work here, why would he owe the Thai tax man money unless he did not put the money in a Thai bank, I have my money transferred to Thai bank where the Thai gov are very happy to tax my bank money, I still wonder why I never worked here

 

 

[flyingtlger]

You PLAY,

You PAY.....

 

[Time to grow]

Ahhh, didn't you know, money laundering is reserved and vehemently protected by the big banks. It's THEIR business model.

[Orton Rd]

All his assets in Thailand have been stolen, that's the only real crime.

[dpcjsr]

Follow the money honey!

 

Thai officials now own his house, car, money, etc. A falang with assets is the target here. Coincidence? Same thing happens in the US every day. 

[Enki]

13 hours ago, Ron jeremy said:

Why would he export ahitty Asian weed when it's legal where he comes from? 

Because where he comes from: it is imported ... (*facepalm*)

[BobBKK]

2 hours ago, lesmac said:

yes i agree

 

If that is the case is a downright SCANDAL poor guy

[robblok]

7 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

If that is the case is a downright SCANDAL poor guy

It is a big scandal.. like i said the Dutch government was totally wrong and they send over a minister but nothing has changed. They made an error as they could not get the guy on tax charges stupid vindictive people and this happend. The Thais of course dont want to give the confiscated money back so the rulings wont change. The guys life is messed up, i can only hope he gets justice in the Netherlands and that heads will roll. 

[curious297]

I Love how tv keyboard warriors think of themselves as judge, jury and in some cases, the haangman in a case that is totally unjust. This is the outcome of greed and corruption and some might say revenge from both Thai and dutch authorities. This story has been going since 2016, yet many take their information from misinformed sources, gossip and hearsay. Hell, don't take my word for it, take a read and decide for yourself. The real question is how did the dutch take it so far and allow this to happen above all common sense and no hint of rational thinking? 

 

For those of you too lazy to read, The main point of the story is this:

 

Prof. Guido de Bont, a fiscal lawyer, studied the files and concluded that Johan’s coffeeshops were as legitimate as a coffeeshop can get. According to de Bont, The Grass Company was well organised and nothing illegal was to be found.

 

>>>The real story HERE<<<

 

BY the way, I lived in Holland for many years. Had a friend visit me here in Thailand some years back. He smokes Weed quite heavily back in amsterdam however, he never did in Thailand. Going out clubbing on his first night, the police did a club raid, rounding up thais on one side and foreigners on the other. All had to take a pee test. Of course my friends pee showed positive for weed. He pleaded his innocents to deaf ears, no one listened, only wanting to see how much he could pay to get out of this situation, which was quite a bit of change so as not to be deported or jailed. Even he could prove he flew in less than 24 hours ago, it made no difference.  Has and will never step a foot in Thailand again.

 

So yes, you can do something that is perfectly legal in one country and yet be F*cked in another country for doing absolutely nothing wrong.

 

Be careful if you do legal drugs in your country and fly to Singapore!

 

https://globalnews.ca/news/4616086/singapore-cannabis-travel-drug-test/

[StevieAus]

14 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I've never quite understood the seemingly pointless Thai legal process of courts sentencing people to ridiculously long prison terms for what they've been accused of, and then saying, oh by the way, the pertinent law limits the prison time to 1/10th or whatever of the sentenced time, so we're going to give him the 1/10th....

 

Why not just follow the law from the get-go, and if the maximum sentence allowed under the law is 20 years, then sentence the poor soul to 20 years and be done with it.... 

 

The wife, meanwhile, after 5 years credit for time already served, should be out of the streets again and a free lady within a year or two. And probably ending up being divorced and free to marry again, since hubby seemingly is going to be put away, or perhaps deported abroad at some point, for a long time.

 

I suspect that it’s due to the fact that many of the the offenses/ crimes here have very long maximum sentences and often the judges apply the maximum then discount for pleading guilty etc.

The same thing seems to happen in Australia where discounts are given for pleading guilty.

From what I have read about trials in the US a similar thing seems to happen there with people sentenced to terms they could never serve.

All part of the system.

[nightfox]

13 hours ago, tgw said:

 

the whole case doesn't seem to make sense.

From what I read before about the case, apparently, he was sentenced in Thailand for business that entirely took place within the Netherlands, where - AFAIK - his activities were legal.

"Laarhoven was found guilty of committing 15 money-laundering offences as a result of frequent international transactions via a Kasikornbank account based in Pattaya"

 

Don't know the laws in your country but in many countries receiving proceeds of an indictable offense( Money Laundering)  is a crime as last time I checked weed is still illegal in Thailand and Kasikorn is a Thai bank.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

There is more to this than the article. He commited the so called crimes in another country not here. Secondly when he commited the alleged crimes the money laundary act was not inplace. This law was not back dated and thus only came into effect on the date of it being gazette.

Sent from my SM-A730F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[KKr]

1 hour ago, remorhaz said:

Guilty as charged - case closed.

you conveniently overlooked the matter of jurisdiction.

from news-reports it follows that the poor sod was not convicted for a crime in the Netherlands: he was invited to explain some details and agreed to do so.
(a Dutch local matter.)

Next, for flashing savings money transferred into Thailand and that thus likely is not taxable in Thailand unless the Dutch tax-situation is not solved ( someone can read up on the double taxation treaty and correct me if I am wrong ) he gets convicted because of money laundering involving K-Bank. ( Maybe I overlooked it, but was K-Bank charged for aiding and abetting, facilitating money laundering ? )

Quite a lot of question marks there.

Just the other day we saw the news that a guy with anger management issues who killed someone in the hotel room next door because of him speaking out about his being a nuisance gets out on bail,
and Max Verstappen has a brilliant career as a RedBull driver.

One indeed wonders whether Justitia's blindfold is what it seems.

[DJ54]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

I doubt many people are going to miss this couple. Some people just refuse to work for a living, like the rest of us. Some just feel the pathological need to take other people's hard earned money. A

According to the article posted posted earlier on this string. Netherlands is coughing up Euros 20 Million to Dutchman. That wouldn’t happen if he committed a crime.

 

Would be nice if  Thailand gets on the hook for possessions taken and works out a payback to the Dutchman.

 

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2019/08/25/dutch-justice-minister-ferd-grapperhaus-thailand-johan-van-laarhoven-thai-prison-legal-case/

[Globe Trotter]

14 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I've never quite understood the seemingly pointless Thai legal process of courts sentencing people to ridiculously long prison terms for what they've been accused of, and then saying, oh by the way, the pertinent law limits the prison time to 1/10th or whatever of the sentenced time, so we're going to give him the 1/10th....

 

Why not just follow the law from the get-go, and if the maximum sentence allowed under the law is 20 years, then sentence the poor soul to 20 years and be done with it.... 

 

The wife, meanwhile, after 5 years credit for time already served, should be out of the streets again and a free lady within a year or two. And probably ending up being divorced and free to marry again, since hubby seemingly is going to be put away, or perhaps deported abroad at some point, for a long time.

 

It happens in the US too. They will initially state crazy numbers and it can will trickle down depending on the case, codefendants, lawyers and so forth. One notorious case that springs to mind is that of Shaun Attwood, a UK citizen who became an ecstasy kingpin in Arizona. He was arrested on conspiracy charges along with many codefendants. He was initially threatened with 100s of years, which whittled down and down to a final jail term of 9 and a half years. 

[DJ54]

Prosecutors usually try to throw everything in the book at a person

hoping some will stick.,,. Then you end up with hears stacked on top of each other then usually reduced. 

 

If Netherland paying out Euro 20 million... the guy is innocent 

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

3 hours ago, Netease said:

Whats going to happen when the Thai Government starts asking Retirees to prove where they got the Bht 800,000 needed in a Thai bank or for that matter where any of us got our money from to purchase properties in Thailand.

Will we need to show our tax records from our home country going back many years.

Don't laugh, it could happen

that is exactly the question here.

if thailand is jailing foreigners (for life !!) for tax offenses / money laundering

made abroad, it puts all investors / retirees in thailand in real life danger !!

if someone from your home country / any other country you worked at, want to

revenge you for some reason, and he has connection, all he or she need

to do is arrange a letter from law authorities in your country, and thai

authorities will be more than happy to throw you in jail and confiscate all your assets !!

very big danger for all foreigners in thailand !

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

20 minutes ago, Globe Trotter said:

It happens in the US too. They will initially state crazy numbers and it can will trickle down depending on the case, codefendants, lawyers and so forth. One notorious case that springs to mind is that of Shaun Attwood, a UK citizen who became an ecstasy kingpin in Arizona. He was arrested on conspiracy charges along with many codefendants. He was initially threatened with 100s of years, which whittled down and down to a final jail term of 9 and a half years. 

 

What you're describing in the U.S., which is something I'm well familiar with, is entirely different than what occurs here...

 

In the U.S., what you're describing is the talk when a criminal case is filed of what the MAXIMUM penalties could be under the law for the charged offenses... Then the case goes to trial and guilty or not guilty verdicts on the various charges, and ultimately sentencing.  When the person is sentenced, they get what they get based on the charges they've been convicted of, and the judge's discretion within those sentencing guidelines.

 

In Thailand, and in this case here, we're just talking about what the court/judges do at sentencing AFTER the trial and conviction... As in this case, they actually sentence the guy to 100+ plus years in prison, and then say, Oh BTW, the law only allows a maximum of 20 years for the offenses at hand, so in the end, he only gets 20 years. As I said above, what's the point of that? It's absurd.

 

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

i wonder why this guy transfered to thailand so much money, from

an organised civillised country like holland.

it just does not make sense, propably also to thai courts, which made

them even more suspicious that he is trying to launder money.

having all this wealth in thailand makes you a direct target of both

criminal and authorities, corrupt or not.

 

i know some foreigners who run succesfull businesses here in thailand,

but move all their profits, legally, to other countries, just to stay safe.

they do it according to their thai wives advices, who tell them

they better not have "too much money" in thai bank.

 

this is true not only to thailand but to any corrupt third world country.

this dutch man was too naive...or under educated about how this

world works...or maybe too in love with his thai wife...???

[Rimmer]

Troll and off topic removed also replies

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Authorities, meanwhile, will seize both defendants’ assets bought through ill-gotten gains including several luxury cars, many plots of land, a handgun and ammunition, a house in Chon Buri province, a large amount of cash as well as many jewellery items worth a total of around Bt100 million. 

 

Perhaps it would have been simpler if the Thai authorities had simply charged the guy with being a farang "unusually wealthy" in Thailand...  That is a crime here, right???  

[bander]

What's wrong with this couple, did they forget bribes to the BIB or what?

If you launder money in Thailand make sure to give huge donations to high ranking officials who can pull strings to keep you out of jail.

I guess they learned a lesson the hard way.

[kensisaket]

Certainly they have money stashed away in Holland; or, a Swiss bank account.  That's the good news; however, the bad news for the Dutch fella is that his Thai wife is getting out of jail in 2+ years.  

[bander]

5 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Perhaps it would have been simpler if the Thai authorities had simply charged the guy with being a farang "unusually wealthy" in Thailand...  That is a crime here, right???  

More like it's a crime to resisting extortion from greedy criminals. No need to say who they are.

[The Theory]

If his assets and money were clean then he picked a wrong country as home.

[bander]

27 minutes ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

i wonder why this guy transfered to thailand so much money, from

an organised civillised country like holland.

it just does not make sense, propably also to thai courts, which made

them even more suspicious that he is trying to launder money.

having all this wealth in thailand makes you a direct target of both

criminal and authorities, corrupt or not.

 

i know some foreigners who run succesfull businesses here in thailand,

but move all their profits, legally, to other countries, just to stay safe.

they do it according to their thai wives advices, who tell them

they better not have "too much money" in thai bank.

 

this is true not only to thailand but to any corrupt third world country.

this dutch man was too naive...or under educated about how this

world works...or maybe too in love with his thai wife...???

Cayman Island bank AC and he wold drinking champagne and eating Russian caviar rest of his life @ his luxury house in Chonburi or anywhere in the world.

[NanLaew]

15 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

The whole case has been a farce.

The Dutch government should hang their heads in shame.

Hopefully some powerful people and the media in the Netherlands pick up on this story and create a storm so that both these people are released asap.

Absolutely outrageous story.

The only winners here are the corrupt officials who will have a nice earner on the assets/proceeds.

Disgusting.

So he (and she) are not bad uns?

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, DJ54 said:

According to the article posted posted earlier on this string. Netherlands is coughing up Euros 20 Million to Dutchman. That wouldn’t happen if he committed a crime.

 

Would be nice if  Thailand gets on the hook for possessions taken and works out a payback to the Dutchman.

 

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2019/08/25/dutch-justice-minister-ferd-grapperhaus-thailand-johan-van-laarhoven-thai-prison-legal-case/

Thailand getting on the hook would mean the administration being held accountable. What are the chances of that happening? 

[The Old Bull]

It's not over yet, remember rich people do not go to jail in Thailand.