An Amsterdam jeweler has been acquitted of co-perpetration of money laundering of a turnover of 505,500 euros in watches and jewellery. According to the court, the man could not have known that the amounts with which jewelry was purchased came from crimes.
FIOD
The process followed from two FIOD investigations into money laundering
From the “Snowdon” and “Talio” criminal investigations. It showed that watches and jewelery were purchased from the jeweler in the period from May 9, 2017 to July 20, 2018.
The payments were made with bank accounts of BVs of someone who, according to the FIOD, bought jewelry and watches for Naima Jillal, who has been missing since October 2019.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, no legal explanation could be found for this money and it was probably earned through investment fraud. In addition, Jillal was involved in large-scale cocaine trafficking, which is why drug money was probably also used. The jeweler’s communication with the owner of the BVs was via chats on Telegram.
Normal
The jeweler has stated to the police that it is quite normal for wealthy customers to regularly buy and pay with their company’s account or have this done by companies that represent them financially. Naima Jillal had come into the picture with the man, but at that time she was not generally known in the media as a drug trafficker.
The court sees the reasonableness of this. According to the suspect, ordering several expensive purchases within a period of fourteen months was not an exceptional situation. The court does not necessarily find this considerable turnover suspicious. Unlike the public prosecutor, the court also does not think that Telegram is only used by criminals.
The fact that the people who bought jewelery knew that it was money laundering does not mean that the jeweler was a co-perpetrator or complicit in money laundering.
See the verdict.
