800 'fake mortgages' in a story that feels more like a Guy Ritchie film than real life
In Guy Ritchie’s recent Netflix TV series The Gentlemen, wealthy homeowners allow drug dealers to grow their products hidden below ground in quiet parts of their country estates. And in a real life (kind of) emulating real life, a former art crimes prosecutor has revealed a sprawling drugs and property crime ring that involved mortgage brokers, a ‘specialist’ real estate agent and cocaine dealers.
The shocking case has just been revealed in a recent report. Since 2018, a criminal organisation linked to the cocaine trade has acquired hundreds of Amsterdam properties through mortgage fraud, according to Dutch newspapers. The network’s activities were uncovered during an investigation into drug hiding places. These properties have been used for drug storage, safe houses, and housing migrant workers, as the Amsterdam police and the Public Prosecution Service (OM) told the Financieele Dagblad.
The network, discovered by detectives investigating hidden drug storage builders, involved a real estate agent offering properties to the drug world. The agent was found to be at the centre of a criminal organization specializing in mortgage fraud, a financial crime team leader from the Amsterdam police told FD. “During that investigation, we came across a real estate agent who offered warehouses and homes to the drug world.”
The network included real estate agents, mortgage advisors, and administration officers who fabricated employer statements, salary slips, and company accounts to deceive banks. “We even saw fictitious monthly wage payments made to the applicants’ bank accounts,” the detective said.
“Anything to give the mortgage lender the illusion that the customer had a well-paid job.” The network charged from 7,000 to 12,000 euros per fraudulent mortgage.
In 2023 alone, dozens of mortgages were obtained using fake documents, but police believe this is just a fraction of the group’s activities since 2018.
The police identified six mortgage advisors who have been submitting forged applications, averaging two fraudulent mortgages per month regularly since 2018, equating to at least 800 falsified mortgages. This has removed a significant number of homes from Amsterdam’s housing market during a housing shortage. “The fraud also affects ordinary citizens who did comply with the rules and saw homes pass them by,” said Amsterdam prosecutor Ursula Weitzel.
In May, police arrested 10 individuals related to the fraud investigation, with another 12 suspects identified since. These suspects, working in real estate, administration, or as mortgage advisors, face charges of fraud, forgery, and money laundering.
