The Dutch Johan van Laarhoven, convicted of money laundering from the cannabis trade, has not received a reduced sentence on appeal. His sentence was reduced on paper from 103 to 75 years, but he must serve 11 years. Just like the previous conviction. Only his wife's sentence was reduced from 7 years to 4 years and XNUMX months.
The Thai authorities started an investigation into Van Laarhoven in 2014 at the request of the Dutch government. He had been living in Thailand for years at the time. He was arrested after a request for legal assistance from the Netherlands, which had long suspected him of, among other things, forming a criminal organization. He allegedly tried to launder millions in fraudulently obtained drug money by investing it in Thailand.
According to lawyer Vis, Van Laarhoven was also sentenced because the Thai judges do not understand the Dutch tolerance policy. The court also used incriminating statements from Dutch officials. “And that while it has now been established in the Netherlands that those statements were at least incorrect and incomplete,” says Vis.
The lawyer states that the Netherlands engaged the Thai colleagues at the time in the hope that they would gather information that could be useful for the process in the Netherlands. Instead, he was arrested in Thailand and severely punished.
The lawyer hopes that the Dutch judiciary will now arrange with Thailand that Van Laarhoven can serve his sentence in the Netherlands. The verdict will then probably be adjusted “according to the standards of Dutch law”, he says. The problem then remains that his wife has to serve the sentence in Thailand and cannot go to the Netherlands with him.
Van Laarhoven can only serve his Thai sentence in the Netherlands if the conviction is irrevocable and he has been in Thai detention for at least four years. On July 23, 2018, those four years will have passed.
It would not go well with Van Laarhoven, who suffers both psychologically and physically from his detention. Last year, a number of members of the House of Representatives urged that the judiciary should make an effort to bring Van Laarhoven to the Netherlands. Ombudsman Van Zutphen also believes that the Brabant must be helped.
(Photo above: Johan van Laarhoven and his wife in better times.)
Source: Bangkok Post and NOS.nl
Undoubtedly too harsh a sentence. Well, there are more Dutch people detained in Thailand with extremely severe sentences by Dutch standards in relation to the crime committed. Hardly any attention to them. Van Laarhoven even managed to mobilize members of the 2nd chamber. Others may be happy with the occasional visit from a representative of the embassy.
In this case it was also the Dutch government that itself is partly to blame for the horrible position Van Laarhoven is in now. In the Netherlands you do not go behind bars for 75 years for a property crime. Ultimately, he was convicted in Thailand for something that was not the intention of the Dutch government, which is partly responsible for the outcome by submitting a request for legal assistance. All help from the Netherlands at government level is therefore the least one can do.
He has committed a crime in Thailand and has been sentenced for it under Thai law.
Money laundering earned from the sale of drugs has happened in Thailand.
He was convicted for that.
The fact that this trade is tolerated in the Netherlands (which does not mean that it is legal) is not important for money laundering in Thailand.
Following your reasoning, it also means that whoever visits a casino outside Thailand and gambles and earns there and then returns with the money at that time is laundering money. Because gambling is forbidden in Thailand, that's why there are casinos in neighboring countries.
The same goes for mushroom pickers in the Netherlands who go on holiday to Thailand and spend their earned money there, or Thai people who are invited to Sweden to officially look for forest fruits in the forests. With their income sent to Thailand, they commit a money laundering action according to the same reasoning because poaching of mushrooms and forest fruits, etc. is prohibited in Thailand.
The majority of those incarcerated are there for drug offenses. I can imagine that you will receive less attention from the Embassy. How stupid can you be? But what has this man done in Thailand related to drugs?
Investing money obtained through drug trafficking.
Or did you think once the drugs are sold all is well and peaceful?
There are a few things that bother me about reporting on this.
The suggestion that the Thai judges do not understand the Dutch tolerance policy is very condescending. Rather, Thailand has nothing to do with it. It remains money that has been obtained in an unclear way, possibly outside of taxation, that has been laundered in Thailand.
Many suggest that the Dutch government should instruct the Thai government to do this or that. The Thai legal system cannot be forced. The judge applies the law and only when the conviction is final can something be tried through the government. The Netherlands has no influence on that legal system.
The fact that a prisoner is not doing so well does not matter much to the Thai prison regime. As long as a foreigner does not die.
Again, there is no question of money laundering. You do money laundering by, for example, transferring the money to a non-existent parent holding company in a distant country, and then having it paid out to you, for example as a director. Or you put money into one of the many window cleaning companies in the Netherlands (another cash business!) and claim more washed windows. Or you start a telephone shop in Amsterdam and rack up a lot of debts with non-paying customers, etc, etc. This man simply went to Thailand with a ton of black money that was not declared to the tax authorities. Just as every painter, plumber or carpenter spends his extra money there, outside the view of the Dutch tax authorities.
This was only a little too high a tree.
Nice definition, but according to the definition of Thai law, simply money laundering. As far as I understand, he didn't get those 75 years for anything else. Thai judges look very strictly at the letter of the law, without much regard for additional circumstances and without compassion. I have not seen any charges for the weapons found (as I read in Thai newspapers).
The background to this procedure stinks.
But if, IF, Thai law provides for a criminal offense for spending -in Thailand- money earned/obtained in another country through activities that are legal (or tolerated) there but not in Thailand, then we should all be scratching our heads. and wondering whether OUR pensions and savings are legally earned by Thai standards.
Because then this fate can await us all if, in Thai eyes, there is something wrong with our past.
I am curious about the translation of the judgment on appeal to read what exactly has been accused of L. In the first instance, the accusation was that money legally earned in the Netherlands was transferred to Thailand. That translation has already been promised in a colleague blog.
While I have compassion for drug-related punishment, I also often think of the families who have to go through the misery of their addicted children.
Daughters who have to play whore to get that shit, sons who commit robberies and steal from their parents.
It is this money that this gentleman enjoys the nice weather with.
We know that the Netherlands makes mistakes more often with the arrest of the Dutch Argentinian pilot in Spain.
Name me one, just one victim who has died from using marijuana, which is affordable for everyone.
These are not hard drugs, but soft drugs, of which it is said: “a satisfied smoker is not a troublemaker”.
So I take the liberty of not taking you quite seriously, Mr Sweet.
I followed this case on Bvn, in various talk shows this case was presented in detail.
This is a bad translation that would have been signed by a former military attache of the embassy who would now have been discredited for other matters and has since left his post.
As a result, the Thais thought they were arresting a large drug lord. Selling legal stuff in the Netherlands and being convicted here would turn the world upside down.
However, Rutte could quickly solve this case by having his minister of justice make a return trip to Bangkok in order to explain this matter in detail. Once again it is proven how alone you are abroad, that you are rightly or rightly detained, whatever problem you present to the embassy, if you already receive an answer you can be happy, in other words, your embassy your friend if you don't need it from any country.
Perhaps Mr. Vanloven has been a bit naive in transferring his money here while there are countries in the area that are safer and financial centers. Jealousy of locals must also have played a part.
The Nl government should be ashamed to let its compatriots down like this, so far the couple has not been convicted in Nl that is reality. Hopefully within that coalition that does not get off the ground in Nl, someone is responsible takes as soon as he gets his post at the judiciary.
There has never been a military attache at the embassy in Bangkok.
I don't know if you've seen Jolante's broadcast on TV about Thailand and visiting people.
One was about a Vader who went to visit his son for the last time in prison in Pattaya because the Vader was dying.
That son would be in jail for committing Credit Card fraud, the parent's lapse was (if I'm not mistaken) that he had tried to get money on an uncovered Credit Card, He had been in jail for 8 years without and was still awaiting sentencing.
The punishments in Thailand are not bad when it comes to these kinds of crimes.
What many tourists also don't know is that there is a considerable prison sentence for reporting (wrongly or better known as insurance fraud) Phones or Cameras etc.
The tourist often thinks to go to the police station to get a note / statement / declaration for that iPhone that has been stolen (supposedly), which they need for the insurance to pay out.
This can just give them a Free extension of 1 year or more in the Bangkok Hilton.
Why is that man being convicted in Thailand for something that took place in the Netherlands? My reason for this eludes me. Does the Thai himself pay tax on his income obtained from work? I have never heard a Thai say anything about that in Isaan.
He has been convicted in Thailand of money laundering in Thailand, and thus for violating Thai law in this regard. Whether the conviction is justified is another question.
I think so too Cornelis, but I would like to read the verdict before I pass judgment on it. Money laundering, like drug export and human trafficking are cross-border crimes. This means that you can be arrested and convicted in all countries that have signed a treaty, even if the offense took place in another treaty country.
If you google his name in Thai characters you will find all the stories in Thai newspapers, but only those from 2014, after the first verdict, like this: ์โฮเฟิน
The Thai newspapers then reported that in the previous 10 years or so large amounts had been transferred from many countries (Egypt, England, Virgin Islands, Germany, Panama, Cyprus, etc.) to Thailand, which were then distributed among relatives of the van Laarhovens, the latter a common practice in Thailand. For each transfer he received 5 years (maximum penalty for money laundering), which together added up to 103 years.
https://www.isranews.org/isranews-news/42614-103.html
Just read your link Tino. It is about money laundering. In this case, money laundering is therefore illegal or transferring black money (no tax return has been filed) abroad (Thailand in this case).
For example, the Swedish government can arrest all whore users who have been active in Pattaya because that is prohibited in Sweden. Cross-border crime. So better not make a stopover in Sweden about visiting.
The same applies to all pensioners in Thailand who violate Thai law by not filing income tax returns. This is also cross-border crime because the money comes from abroad.
Ger, I don't know Swedish law, but prostitute doesn't seem like a cross-border offense to me.
Not declaring a pension from another country in Thailand either. That could at most lead to an investigation by the Thai tax authority. Dutch pensions are taxed at source or are exempt if you live in Thailand. It is then up to the Thai tax authorities to determine whether Thai tax liability has arisen. So that is a Thai issue, but not cross-border.
I think there are tens of thousands of farang old self-employed people living in Thailand who launder their black-earned Western money.
It is nonsense to state that the Dutch government is (jointly) responsible for a conviction if they inquire about criminal offences. Thus, the Dutch government should not be allowed to collect information, because otherwise the suspect would run the risk of being convicted in the country of residence. Well, then you'll never get anything done.
The fact that this "ball" has come into play (whether or not by the Dutch government) does not alter the fact that the Thai court is of the opinion that the money used was obtained from a criminal activity or activities.
In my opinion, the lawyer is abusing the Dutch tolerance policy, because it relates to the possession of small amounts, and van Laarhoven has never or could never have become rich from this. He has become rich with the trade in large quantities of (soft) drugs and that is also punishable in the Netherlands.
From a Dutch point of view, we will all agree that 75 years or 100 years is far too long for such an offence. But it is the law in Thailand and we will have to do with that. The only thing that can happen is to let him come to the Netherlands after his 4 years, but it does not alter the fact that I have no sympathy for Mr van Laarhoven and that his situation is mainly due to himself. Mr van Laarhoven is just a Dutch criminal with a Dutch expectation regarding his punishment abroad. Well, that's a bit scary then.
Trade in large quantities of drugs is, in principle, NOT punishable in the Netherlands. If it were, every owner of a coffee shop would be punishable, because every year from a few hundred to thousands of kilos are traded there. Exactly the position of Mr van Laarhoven, so.
Apparently we have little knowledge of our criminal law, Jasper, because it is indeed punishable. As far as the coffee shops are concerned, there is a tolerance policy - that can't be news to you, can it?
Not right. The Netherlands has a tolerance policy, selling drugs is indeed punishable by law.
WRONG! But indeed the position of Mr van Laarhoven. I explain:
A (legal) coffee shop is tolerated. His tolerance permit specifically states the weight of soft drug (marijuana) that may be present in the store (coffee shop). Suppose this is 500 or 1000 grams. A bag of weed is 1 gram, so you have 500 or 1000 servings per day. For many coffee shops, this would mean that they would have to close at 14 p.m. because the stock has been sold.
That closing does not happen. New stock is simply brought in and sold. Off the books, of course, because it is not allowed and the money is “black” and therefore punishable because a larger amount of drugs is sold than permitted and no tax has been paid (VAT, income tax, corporate tax).
Mr. van Laarhoven also did it this way, among other things. That's why he became so rich with it. Moreover, the drug world, including that of soft drugs, is a tough world. Brabant is known for it and the competition is literally cutthroat. Only the very biggest heavy boys remain. I suspect that is why van Laarhoven also went to Thailand (fleeed). That is my suspicion, but in my opinion a very realistic scenario
Bad reasoning, Dennis. A coffee shop is tolerated under certain conditions. One of the conditions is that a maximum quantity of certain substances on List II of the Opium Act may be present at the sales location. There is no stipulation that this maximum applies per day. The stock may therefore be replenished at any time up to that maximum.
Dennis, your explanation is wrong.
Read https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/drugs/inhoud/gedoogbeleid-softdrugs-en-coffeeshops
One of the 9 tolerance criteria for coffee shops is that a maximum of 500 grams of soft drugs may be in stock at any given time. This is solved by continuous supply from a secret storage.
VAT is paid on the soft drugs sold.
The major problem of the tolerance policy is that the purchase of soft drugs is not tolerated, because this is trade.
The 'white' money obtained through the sale of soft drugs is turned 'black' as soon as it is spent on the purchase of soft drugs.
I suspect that there are coffee shop owners who present the costs of purchasing in their administration as (much) higher than is actually the case. In the case of the annual accounts, this cannot be checked by the tax authorities due to the lack of receipts.
If the tax authorities find out that a person has access to large sums of money in previously unknown (foreign) accounts, I can imagine that they question this.
According to the NRC and ThaiVisa, the sentence has been reduced to 20 years, of which he must serve at least 9.
Well…dubious role of the Dutch Justice….It is known that they are sore losers.
This gentleman should never have been convicted in Thailand…he has not done anything criminal there.
Bringing money into the legal circuit … the Thai should have been flying the flag ….
A criminal offense has been committed in the Netherlands… not paying the tax… how our tolerance policy works is not up to the Thai government…. I get a bad taste in my mouth reading this.
He has NOT been convicted in Thailand for offenses/crimes committed in the Netherlands……..
First of all, I hate drugs, etc. Secondly, I have little response for people who want to make a profit here one way or another. The fact that the sweet grapes for him are now turning into sour grapes is his own fault. He knew what he was doing.
Everyone knows them. The drunkards who are roaring how much they hate drugs.
From the perspective of international criminal law, it seems to me - but I would recommend experts who can convince me of the opposite - to be at least undesirable that someone could essentially be prosecuted twice for the same or closely related or interrelated facts. and (perhaps) convicted; namely in Thailand under Thai law and in the Netherlands under Dutch law. After all, at least according to the official version, the Dutch government's ultimate intention was to bring Johan van Laarhoven to trial in the Netherlands. This does not alter the fact that the Thai criminal justice system can apparently still come into focus as has happened here. It is not appropriate for me to give an opinion on this, apart from all the technical complications and what might have taken place in the 'informal circuit'. In the meantime, preparations for the summons procedure in the Netherlands were already in full swing.
Unfortunately for Johan van Laarhoven himself, it did not happen that the Thai Public Prosecution Service withdrew its summons for reasons of its own, coupled with a possible deportation of Johan van Laarhoven to the Netherlands, which - if I look at the literal Thai legal text - could be possible. until the ruling of the first judge. See The Criminal Procedure Code, title 3, chapter 1, section 35. But I do not specifically know the interpretation of the law and Thai case law on this point, so I would also like input from experts here.
The Thai sentence is of course extremely severe for Johan van Laarhoven by standards of Dutch law. However morally one may think about the matter, it is, in my view, preferable from the point of view of humanity that Johan van Laarhoven can make use of the possibility of being extradited to the Netherlands in due course.
It is of course a bizarre thing to leave a countryman hanging in Thailand like this. Many members of parliament were angry about this, including our ombudsman. I read the trial documents at the time, and still do not understand that such a thing is possible. The Netherlands could simply have asked for his extradition, just as they have done with many others. A simple request and Johan would have been arrested and transferred to the Netherlands, if he had not protested. And there the case should have been fought, about whether or not to pay a tax dispute, and then this matter would have been resolved long ago. If Johan had been smart, he would have boarded the plane himself. and having to make a deal with the tax with his lawyers, which happens so often, and then the matter would have been settled long and wide. Fortunately for him, Beatrix concluded a humanitarian deal with the Thai government during her visit to Thailand, after which our compatriots can qualify for transfer to the Netherlands after serving a third of the sentence in Thailand. But this is also no guarantee because Machiel Kuyt also did not cooperate and never confessed, and therefore had to wait another 2 years longer. His girlfriend Linda took the blame at the time, and after confession received 50 years, with a sentence reduction of 17 years, so that she had to serve 33 years. I have been very busy with various authorities to undo this great injustice, and luckily she was released early 2 years ago.
Colin, the constitution in the Netherlands is fortunately structured in such a way that the head of state does not have a function when concluding treaties. Beatrix had nothing to do with the prisoner transfer treaty. In a country like the Netherlands, that is the task of the government and parliament. Occasionally the head of state may sign the treaty, but that is only ceremony.
I think you are mistaken with the mediation of the head of state with regard to the chain on hands and feet of Machiel K. That was a request from monarch to monarch and can sometimes work faster than the road past ministries and officials.
What I think I have read is that Mr. Van Laarhoven received all kinds of money from various countries to his Thai bank account.
When the Thai judiciary inquired about the origin of these amounts, no appropriate explanations could be given. They were probably considerable amounts.
In my opinion, everyone in Thailand should be able to account for the money that he transfers from abroad to Thailand, especially if it is tens of thousands of euros.
Anyway, this can also be a monkey sandwich story.
According to the Bangkok Post, this involves half a million euros from Cyprus and millions from Germany.
This is certainly not a monkey business story, black money from the grass company to dubious countries and then to Thailand.
Haha, indeed monkey sandwich. Since last week you have to indicate when transferring money what it is for, but I have never had any questions about the tens of thousands of euros that I have transferred.
As long as the money comes in, you won't hear the Thai complain!!
9 years ago I had to go to the headquarters of the Bangkok Bank to explain why I had received more than 1 million Baht deposited from the Netherlands.
Who burns his ass on the blisters. He has earned millions in the Netherlands from illegal drugs. For Thailand it doesn't matter where the money comes from, it is earned with drugs. Thailand makes short work of this and rightly so.
And stop with that bullshit about the Dutch state now having to show up. In Thailand, strict standards with regard to drugs are used. In the Netherlands they can learn something from this.
And Mr van Laarhoven doesn't have it so bad, has his own cell and a lot of privileges that many cannot afford. However, his highly paid lawyers will back down.
Hopefully the Dutch government will not get a grip on the matter and its millions in Thailand will go to a good cause.
Peter.
My 17-year-old nephew died of drugs.
This man is lucky to have been apprehended in Thailand and not
in Malaysia or Singapore.
See article Engineer Van Damme 1994 Singapore.
Despite a request for pardon from Beatrix, Singapore has its own laws and regulations
executed.
Johan had a special cash register system with which he channeled a lot of black money to many dubious countries.
Johan never had enough and always made a long nose at the tax authorities.
Now the Netherlands makes a long nose at Johan and anyone who burns his buttocks has to sit on the blisters.
Johan has enriched himself all his life on the back of someone else and now has his deserved punishment, Johan, fare you well and in 20 years you will be a free man again, don't cry and serve your time nicely.
Everyone is talking about Mr Van Laarhoven….
Personally, I care more about the fate of his wife.
Unfortunately, you don't hear about that.
It would be quite sad that Van Laarhoven is allowed to serve his sentence in the Netherlands, while this does not apply to his wife.
Because Mr van Laarhoven is Dutch, he may serve his sentence in the Netherlands and the sentence will be converted to what would be customary in the Netherlands for such an offence.
Mrs. van Laarhoven cannot make use of this, because she is not Dutch and already enjoys the privilege of being imprisoned in her home country.
Willem has not read everything. The chance that Tukta will be eligible for amnesty at the end of this year is considered high and she will then have served 3,5 years. Van L will have another year and then the procedure will follow to bring him to NL; then he has been in prison for 4,5 years. But van L has repeatedly said 'out together and home together'.
He has not been convicted of prohibited transactions in the Netherlands, which means that there is no question of money laundering under Dutch law. So how can you hold him for 1 day or longer in the Netherlands?
I understand most of the comments, some I don't.
It is not about whether or not Johan has done something criminal in the Netherlands. That is not what the Thai court is about. If that were the case, the Dutch government should have requested his extradition. But that didn't happen.
Apparently money has been laundered in Thailand according to Thai concepts and legislation. The Thai court has ruled on this. Only the fact that his Thai wife has also been convicted indicates that it is a serious Thai offense.
We should not complain bitterly about the judicial process in Thailand. Anyone who moves to Thailand for permanent residence with a bulk of money, apparently to keep that money out of sight of the tax authorities in their own country, knows, or should know, that there are risks involved. The conditions in Thai prisons or his personal health do not detract from this. It is precisely this knowledge that would warrant caution.
It escapes Frans Nico that there is much more going on. Have a look at my response on June 21st at 10.41:XNUMX am.
ANYONE who transfers pension or savings to Thailand that are earned with what is prohibited IN THAILAND risks jail. Even if it is completely legal. And indeed, now that it is known how the Thai judiciary thinks about this, caution is advised for everyone.
Dear Erik, Anyone who books pension or savings to Thailand has NOTHING to fear. This is legal income obtained in the mother country and on which tax has been paid. Income from pensions and savings is also legal in Thailand. I cannot imagine how I could have received a pension with what would be prohibited by Thai law.
I already wrote, how that money is “earned” outside Thailand does not matter. It is about how money has been spent in Thailand in a way that is prohibited under Thai law. If that money has been acquired outside the applicable rules and has been invested out of sight of the tax authorities/government with the aim of legalizing it, it is called MONEY WASHING in Dutch, ฟอก in Thai.
Johan (and his Thai wife) has been convicted of this. Johan has expressly NOT been convicted of acquiring his assets outside of Thailand.