Three men have been charged after a cryptocurrency investment dispute allegedly escalated into the kidnapping, extortion and physical abuse of a man in Nieuw-Vennep.
The allegations were outlined by Dutch prosecutors during a preliminary hearing at a court in Amsterdam on 4 August. The suspects are accused of holding the victim captive in a car on 1 May while trying to force him to hand over about $69,000.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the victim told investigators that he was threatened with a firearm. He also alleged that he was warned his eyes would be gouged out and his fingers cut off if he did not comply with the demands.
Investigators are said to have recovered screenshots from a video which allegedly shows the man being held in a wooded area near Nieuw-Vennep. Prosecutors claim he was forced to strip naked and subjected to humiliating treatment, including being urinated on.
The suspects are also accused of threatening to release the footage in an attempt to secure the money.
One of the defendants, identified by local reports as 24-year-old Younes B., appeared in court accused of leading what prosecutors described as a violent and intimidating campaign involving “extremely frightening and degrading acts”. B. is a martial arts instructor who teaches children.
He denied threatening the victim with a firearm. His defence lawyer told the court that the firearm allegation was based solely on the victim’s account.
The lawyer also said B. had invested money with the alleged victim in cryptocurrency. He described the arrangement as “a kind of pyramid scheme” which B. had been drawn into.
B. told the court that he regretted what had happened and addressed the alleged victim directly. He said the two men had been close friends for several years.
“I took the law into my own hands. I should never have done that. There is no justification for what I did,” B. told the court.
The court ordered B. to be released under strict conditions from 5 August. Those conditions include compulsory supervision by the probation service.
In explaining the decision, the court said the allegations appeared to have arisen from “an isolated conflict in a life that otherwise seems to be well-ordered.”
B.’s brother, who is also facing accusations in the case, remains in custody. A third suspect was released earlier during the investigation.
The next hearing is scheduled for 8 September. The case could then move towards a substantive trial.
Under Dutch law, extortion involving violence or the threat of violence carries a maximum sentence of nine years in prison. That maximum rises to 12 years when the offence is committed jointly by several people or involves severe violence.
Abducting or detaining a person against their will carries a maximum sentence of eight years. Hostage-taking has a statutory maximum of 15 years.
The court proceedings concern allegations only, and the defendants have not been convicted.
