The amount of 97,000 euros in cash was seized in October 2019 during a raid on the farm in Ruinerwold in Drenthe. There, Van D. lived with six of his nine children a secluded existence according to the rules of a self-created gospel. He was suspected of assault and deprivation of liberty of all of his children and sexually assaulting two of them.
However, the court ruled that the criminal case against Van D. will not be continued. He is unable to defend himself because of a cerebral infarction he contracted. That is why he was released last month.
Money laundering suspicions
The prosecution initially also suspected money laundering, but dropped that charge over time. The money would come from legal transactions. The OM kept the money, because Van D.’s children could receive compensation. Now that the prosecution has stopped, that is no longer possible.
“The criminal law interest in the seizure of those funds has lapsed as a result of the court decision,” said a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service. She intends to return the money, but that still has to be arranged practically.
Now that there are no criminal consequences for Van D., the four oldest children have announced through their lawyer Corinne Jeekel that they will start a civil procedure. “The children want recognition that this is wrong,” she said in the TV program yesterday On 1.
Leave family
Since his release, Van D. has lived somewhere in the Netherlands with his five youngest children. Yesterday it was announced that ook one of them has left the family. According to the child, there would be too many things that were not justified, according to the fourth episode of the documentary series The children of Ruinerwold, in which the four oldest children are followed.
The series gets one additional online broadcast which can be seen at NPO Start. In it, children Shin, Mar Jan and Edino tell how they left and how they have fared since then.
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