DutchNews.nl - Society - December 16, 2014
Amsterdam crime boss Holleeder remanded in custody for two weeks
Dutch crime boss Willem Holleeder has been remanded in custody for two weeks while his involvement in two murders is investigated.
Holleeder, earlier jailed for kidnapping beer magnate Freddie Heineken and for blackmail, was arrested at his home on Saturday. He is suspected of involvement in the killings of two other underworld figures – Kees Houtman and Thomas van der Bijl. They were killed in 2005 and 2006.
Holleeder’s arrest follows statements by crown witness Fred Ros, the public prosecution department said. Another crown witness, Peter La Serpe, has also implicated Holleeder in the killings.
Two other men – Dino Soerel and Ali A – were earlier found not guilty of involvement in the killings but now face an appeal court.
The public prosecution department hopes the testimony of Fred Ros will now clinch the case, news agency ANP reports. Holleeder was released from jail in 2012 after serving five years for his part in blackmailing three property tycoons. He was earlier jailed in the 1980s for kidnapping beer magnate Freddie Heineken.
The equivalent of €16m was paid in 1983 to free Heineken and his chauffeur Ab Doderer, much of which was found buried in woods near Zeist shortly after they were freed."