A 45-year-old car dealer from Helmond was arrested on Friday on suspicion of offering a “rather special service,” police reported on Saturday.
The suspicion is that he had luxury cars registered in his name to keep the identity of the real owners out of reach of the authorities.
These include Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Aston Martins, as well as “exclusive versions” of Mercedes and Audi with a total value of millions of euros.
The cars mainly come from Germany. They were allegedly registered in his name to “shield others and enable criminals to continue their illegal activities undisturbed,” the police outline.
The police tracked the man down because he had a car registered in his name that actually belonged to a suspect in a drug and money laundering investigation. This initiated a new money laundering investigation. The police are investigating for whom the 45-year-old man may have acted as a so-called facilitator.