The Hal-Vilvoorde Office of the Public Prosecutor (OPP) has requested prison sentences ranging from 12 months to 5 years for 21 individuals involved in a large-scale phishing and money laundering scheme.
The investigation began in late 2022 when the federal judicial police in Hal-Vilvoorde detected suspicious transactions at several Delhaize department stores across Flanders and Wallonia.
“Young buyers, recruited via social media platforms like Snapchat, were making purchases at the stores,” the OPP said.
“These purchases mainly included tobacco products and, crucially, bol.com gift vouchers,” the prosecution added. “The payments were made through Payconiq, though not by the young suspects themselves. They would take a photo of the QR code using their smartphones and send it to their handler, who would then make payments from hacked Luxembourg bank accounts.”
The gift vouchers were then used for online shopping on bol.com. “The young suspects, mostly from Brussels, bought some items for themselves, but a significant portion went back to their handlers,” the OPP explained. “We identified one of them as a man from Leeuwarden, Netherlands.”
In June 2023, the federal judicial police arrested 15 individuals suspected of being part of the criminal organisation. Ultimately, the prosecutor charged 21, mainly the young people who made purchases in the department stores.
Prison sentences of 12 months to two years have been requested for these suspects, while the Dutch man from Leeuwarden faces five years in prison.
