The main suspect of a Schiedam gold robbery who was arrested at Frankfurt am Main airport in Germany on 22 July has now been handed over to the Dutch authorities. The 54-year-old man from Badhoevedorp has been interrogated and is in custody, the police announced on Monday. According to Daphne Roes of the Rotterdam gold trader Maxgoud, inconspicuous drivers are on the road every day with valuable precious metals, such as gold in this case.
(Image from archive)
On April 21, 2023 around 2:00 PM, the police received a report that a security transport car with gold had not arrived at its destination. Officers went looking for the car and found it parked at the Nieuwe Haven in Schiedam. However, the vehicle was empty and the driver was missing.
Suspect
An investigation was immediately launched and on April 24, a 19-year-old man from Amsterdam was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the embezzlement. He is currently out of custody, but is still a suspect, according to police.
Internationally reported
It soon became apparent that the driver had left the Netherlands. This 54-year-old man from Badhoevedorp was spotted internationally and is seen by the police as the main suspect. On July 22, he was recognized at Frankfurt am Main airport during a passport control. He was immediately arrested on suspicion of embezzlement.
The suspect has now been handed over to the Dutch authorities. He was interrogated and brought before the examining magistrate. The man is still in custody.
Striking
What happened to the gold of ‘a few hundred thousand euros’ is unknown. Police say the investigation is “ongoing.”
According to Daphne Roes of gold trader Maxgoud from Rotterdam, inconspicuous drivers are on the road every day with valuable precious metals, such as gold in this case. Roes told Algemeen Dagblad: ‘Nobody does that with a large van from a security transport company, because that is much more noticeable. There are companies that hire drivers, who then drive around in their own van.’
Trouser pocket
It would not be a large pile of gold bars, but a very valuable one. One kilo of gold (current value about 57,800 euros) is no bigger than a smartphone. ‘So you can put two tons of gold in your pocket and you can also hide it. That’s the advantage of gold: it’s easy, relatively small and worth a lot,’ says Roes.
Wholesale
The police say nothing about the sender and receiver of the missing batch of gold. Daphne Roes tells the AD that it seems unlikely to her that such a large amount of gold was on its way to a private individual. ‘It may be that a jeweler or goldsmith purchased the precious metal from the wholesaler. For example to make jewelry. And a lot of gold is also used in the industry for gilding materials: gold is one of the best conductive materials. There’s a little bit in every phone, so they’re all recycled and the gold recovered.’
