The public prosecutor’s office at the Leuven Criminal Court on Friday requested up to two years in prison for two men who stole beer from hundreds of kegs, which they then filled with water at the expense of AB Inbev.
Cafes in the Netherlands and the Antwerp area had reported seeing water coming out of the barrels during the Christmas holidays, prompting AB InBev to destroy 55,000 kegs of beer as a precaution. The brewer is now claiming €600,000 in compensation.
At the end of 2018, AB InBev had received several complaints from the Netherlands that kegs were being filled with water instead of beer. AB InBev investigated and found, through testing, that there had been no production errors. This was, therefore, a case of fraud.
All the kegs were traced to a trailer that could be linked to Mehmet A. (39). The driver had left with the truck but returned a few hours later saying he had “mistakenly taken” the wrong trailer.
In fact, he had swapped the drums in a shed. GPS and telephone data showed that Mehmet A. and co-defendant Jirar M., had been there for a good hour and had swapped the barrels during that time.
The two suspects were already known to the courts, having each received three convictions in the magistrates’ court.
Mehmet A. admitted the offences to police and is hoping for a lighter sentence. M., who is facing twenty months in prison, denied involvement in the events. He claimed the location of the mobile phone was less-than-conclusive evidence and therefore asked for an acquittal.
