The Public Prosecution Service (OM) disagrees with the court’s ruling that Jos L. must repay 96 million euros to the Dutch State. The OM itself judged that the fugitive criminal should pay more than 221 million euros and is appealing the decision.
This concerns money that L. earned from drug trafficking. The court reportedly did not calculate that amount correctly, according to the OM.
The court demands that ‘Bolle Jos’ repay money that he can demonstrably invested in large quantities of cocaine and 150 kilograms of gold. These payments come from L.’s criminal assets. He earned that money illegally and must therefore repay it to the State.
An apartment in Dubai and seized watches belonging to L.’s mother were not included in that calculation by the court. But according to the OM, chat conversations, among other things, show that there is enough evidence that L. bought luxury goods for his family.
Furthermore, the court assumes a period from January 1, 2017, to May 7, 2020. The OM believes that the period up to and including February 26, 2025, should be considered. “The period immediately after the commission of the criminal offenses must also be included. After all, criminal money can only be spent once it has been earned.”
The OM also disagrees with the court reducing the amount to be repaid. The court has namely deducted the purchase costs of seized cocaine from it. “It cannot be explained to society that someone invests their illegally earned money in cocaine, and that these investment costs are then seen as a business risk.”
L. is still a fugitive
The search for L. led to Sierra Leone earlier this year. The OM confirmed after questions from the AD and Follow the Money in January that ‘Bolle Jos’, who had been wanted for years, is located in the African country.
The judiciary said that they had been certain for more than half a year that L. was in Sierra Leone. Despite a request for extradition, there has still been no arrest.
The 34-year-old from Breda still has to serve many years in prison in the Netherlands and Belgium. Last June, he was sentenced to 24 years in prison for importing thousands of kilos of cocaine.