ANPfruit exporter De Groot in Hedel was threatened by drug criminals
NOS News•today, 09:24•Changed today, 09:56
The Public Prosecution Service will pay victims in the extortion case at fruit import company De Groot in Hedel compensation, a spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to NOS.
He does not want to say how large the group of victims is, but according to investigative journalist Yelle Tieleman, who looked into the case, it concerns a group of more than a hundred victims. The Public Prosecution Service also does not want to say anything about the amount of the compensation.
In the extortion case, police secured between 300 and 400 company employees. The case covers almost twenty violent incidents in the period between January 2020 and June 2021.
In 2019, the company was held liable for “the loss of their trade” by a group of criminals after the discovery of around 400 kilos of cocaine in a container of bananas. They demanded more than a million euros for the damage they claimed suffered. There was a threat to liquidate an employee if payment was not made. The company refused and called the police.
Bluff with employee list
The Public Prosecution Service blundered in the investigation by including the complete list of employees of the fruit importer in the file. The Public Prosecution Service asked the suspects’ lawyers to remove the list, but one suspect refused.
Dozens of attacks followed: houses of employees and former employees were set on fire, houses were shot at and a hand grenade was left at a home. The main suspect in the case was given a prison sentence of 19 years and 10 months last year.
Investigative journalist Tieleman delved into the Brabant extortion case and published the book today The Hedel extortion case. According to him, a group of more than a hundred victims united in a foundation that requested compensation for, among other things, emotional suffering, but also for practical matters, such as the purchase of security systems. The Public Prosecution Service also does not want to make any statements about this.
2023-10-03 07:24:30
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