Thai court sentences Dutch national to 103 years in jail

[webfact]

Dutchman Johan van Laarhoven Get’s 103 Year Sentence from Thai Court

BANGKOK – Johan van Laarhoven a Dutch national who founded cannabis cafes in Brabant has been jailed for 103 years by a court in Bangkok for money laundering.
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Johan van Laarhoven, 55, will have to spend 20 years in jail because the 43 sentences can be served concurrently, the court found him guilty of laundering millions of euros in cash earned via his four cafes in Den Bosch and Tilburg.

Van Laarhoven was arrested in Thailand in 2014 along with his Thai wife. He moved to Pattaya in 2008 after 30 years in the soft drugs trade. His wife, Tukta, has been jailed for 12 years for her role in the case.
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The arrest was made after Dutch public prosecution officials asked colleagues in Thailand for their help. They had been investigating Van Laarhoven’s company The Grass Company since 2011. As part of that investigation, officials were given the green light to sequester property and cash amounting to some €24m, much of which they believe had been invested in Thailand.

Full story: http://www.chiangraitimes.com/dutchman-johan-van-laarhoven-gets-103-year-sentence-from-thai-court.html

-- Chiang Rai Times 2015-11-11

[selftaopath]

Humnnnnn interesting process. I wonder if he was ????? oh I don't know ????? let's say - Thai - would he be out on bail?

[Bluespunk]

The Dutch authorities asked for information in someone they could not arrest in Netherlands because of no evidence? Instead he is arrested and gaoled for 103 years?

Wow!

[jaidam]

The key part of the story is the 24m Euros they were allowed to seize. Did they find it? Who knows, it's long gone through an rtp laundry.

[puukao]

I've been to the Grass Company.....and planted tons of seeds in my back yard......Soon tons of backpackers were flocking around......

He should have went to a country that allows this drug!!!! But oh no...the evils of Pattaya strikes again!!!!

[MAJIC]

30 years in the drug trade,instead of laundering millions of Euros he should have stopped years ago while he was ahead!

24 million Euros how much does a crook want?

[NongKhaiKid]

Humnnnnn interesting process. I wonder if he was ????? oh I don't know ????? let's say - Thai - would he be out on bail?

Sentenced to 103 years but reduced by 102 because he gave information ( and money ? ) useful to the court ! ?

[jaltsc]

"The arrest was made after Dutch public prosecution officials asked colleagues in Thailand for their help."

Damn Dutch authorities! Probably really pissed off the Thai police. If they hadn't been involved, this could have been the biggest payoff in Thai history and van Laarhoven would be spending his time on the beach instead of prison.

Edited November 10, 2015 by jaltsc

[Gutenberg]

So anybody got any background info on this?

Seems he might have only evade tax in the Netherlands where the coffee shops where located but he operated legal with a license.

At a result the Netherlands asks for information and the man gets 103 years - because of "money laundering" and in reality because he sold weed legally.

Reminds me of Saudi Arabia and the UAE where you can get locked away for years with 0,002 gr weed.

[ezzra]

The drug business in Thailand is very murky to say the least, with billions of baht in drugs money being

moved around and major part of it being laundered to become legit money,

Many powerful figure are involved in this illicit trade, all the WAY TO THE TOP, if you know wa' I mean....

it's up to the luck really, if your numbers are up and someone decide that this is it for you, that you done,

this business is controlled and managed like any other business by those powerful people, they please

themselves who to work wit and cooperate and who's to ignore, in the case of this Dutch guy, well, his

numbers were up, he should have gone out while the going was good, greed is the reason many people

end up either dead or in jail....

[noitom]

Somewhere along the money trail there had to be a Thai bank or two and a Thai bank officer or three. Where are the busts of those Thais in the banking wire transfer chain?

[prestburypark]

He paid his taxes in the Netherlands, so how is it money laundering? Dutch authorities have shamelessly hung this guy out to dry, what complete bar stewards. If they had the evidence it should have been dealt with in NL. A death sentence in reality, outrageous.

[englishoak]

Jealousy of da green

[Briggsy]

Money laundering convictions in Europe require the prosecution to show that the cash or assets were the proceeds of crime.

Very few details here. I wonder what evidence was presented to the court to show that the millions of Euros of assets this couple had in Thailand were indeed the proceeds of crime.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Dutch Man Gets 20 Years In Thai Prison For Laundering Drug Money

by Janene Pieters

Dutchman Johan van Laarhoven has been sentenced to 103 years in prison by a Thai court for laundering money he earned with the trade in soft drugs. According to his lawyer, Sidney Smeets, he has to serve 20 of those years.

On Twitter Smeets calls the conviction “incorrect and unjust”. “It is completely incomprehensible that he earned his money and paid tax in a decent way in the Netherlands, to then be sentenced in Thailand for money laundering”, the lawyer said to the Telegraaf. According to him, Thai judges do not understand the Dutch tolerance policy and the Dutch authorities provided “incomplete and inaccurate” information about the soft drugs policy in the Netherlands.”

Another of Van Laarhoven’s Dutch lawyers, Tim Vis, expressed similar sentiments to Omroep Brabant.

“This is terrible news for Johan and his family. From the start we stated that Thailand is not the place to deal wit this matter.” Vis said to the broadcaster. He added that the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s “dubious and resentful actions” delivered Van Laarhoven to a judge “who has not sufficiently been able to explain the Dutch tolerance policy.”

Full story: http://www.nltimes.nl/2015/11/10/dutch-man-gets-20-years-in-thai-prison-for-laundering-drug-money/

[Jonathan Fairfield]

So anybody got any background info on this?

Seems he might have only evade tax in the Netherlands where the coffee shops where located but he operated legal with a license.

At a result the Netherlands asks for information and the man gets 103 years - because of "money laundering" and in reality because he sold weed legally.

Reminds me of Saudi Arabia and the UAE where you can get locked away for years with 0,002 gr weed.

There is a lot online about this on Dutch language news sites.

Here are some stories from earlier this year by English sources:

10 June 2015: Dutch Coffeeshop Owner Accused Of Money Laundering In Thai Court

23 June 2015: Dutch Marijuana Trader Still Stuck In Thai Prison

[Briggsy]

It would appear that Thailand has extended its jurisdiction beyond its own borders based on information from the defence lawyer.

If I own a sex shop selling porn and sex toys in the UK (illegal in Thailand) and then bring this money to Thailand, will I be in danger of being imprisoned for money laundering in Thailand?

However, the amount of money involved and the intense interest in this man and his money from the Dutch authorities suggests to me, he is more of a criminal than his lawyers claim, not just an owner of a string of coffee shops. Tax evasion springs to mind.

[catman20]

no sympathy don't do the crime of you cant do the time!!!!!!!!!!

[rebelplatoon]

Another example of spite. His company was legal in the Netherlands, he paid taxes. They KNEW he'd get a tough sentence here. Thanks for the help dutch Embassy!!!

[kinmaew]

Sounds complex not sure why he was not extradited back to home country as that is where the money laundering took place but i guess proceeds spent in LOS. So these are the guys who have the new cars and condos in LOS, now I get it. I hate to sound like a boring old sod, but at the end of the day, honesty and hard work are the only things upon which you can build a real life.

[harrycallahan]

Meh,with Royal pardons he'll be out in 50!

[watcharacters]

30 years in the drug trade,instead of laundering millions of Euros he should have stopped years ago while he was ahead!

24 million Euros how much does a crook want?

The definitive answer to that question is "just a little bit more".

He must have been trying out Gecko's greed theory. He should have time to ponder it now.

[Gutenberg]

From all what I gathered, the man ran a legal coffee shop business in the Netherlands. So, you should be really careful to post stuff like "he deserved it", it could be classified as grudge.

[Jeremy50]

Spliffed by his own country.

[HomeinThailand]

I would venture to guess there is more here then meets the eyes. I am sure he paid his taxes for his coffee shops. Any launderer needs something legit to run money through. Is it BS he was sentenced in Thai court, you bet. Should have been sent back to NL for trial. But Thailand is just following the US's lead; bust the drug king pins in foreign countries, that have never set foot in the states, then ship them to the states for trial. Never could grasp that concept but I am just a small fish in a huge pond.

[Brit_Doggie]

Gratz to him he found loophole lil and discovered the easiest way to remain in Thailand visa free, 1 down 10,000 + more to go.

[Emster23]

Hope Thai courts do take note of the sentence and use as a bench mark for Thai corruption cases pending. Yeah, right.

[kingalfred]

Lucky to get only20 years. All his assets now seized? I wonder where he's got at least a couple million stored away?

[kingalfred]

Gratz to him he found loophole lil and discovered the easiest way to remain in Thailand visa free, 1 down 10,000 + more to go.

really? Another fine law abiding *****!

[Hawk]

Its a ridicuous sentence! Its only money!

Murder gets a smaller sentence. Remember the Australian who shot and killed the American in Chiangmai, he did less than 2 years in jail.