The Public Prosecution Service (OM) demanded a prison sentence of 5 years and a fine of 25,000 euros against a 48-year-old man from Kaatsheuvel for selling EncroChat phones. According to the prosecutor from the National Public Prosecutors Office, the suspect was involved in organized crime related to money laundering and aiding criminals. The OM sees him as a larger reseller who sold the phones to criminal users through local sub-resellers.
According to the prosecutor, the man played a leading role in the trade of crypto phones from June 2018 to June 2020. With these phones, criminal users could send encrypted messages anonymously. Chat conversations show that the suspect had about thirty resellers under him whom he facilitated in selling the phones. He ensured that the phones were delivered, subscriptions were activated or renewed, passwords were reset, and phones were wiped. He also trained new resellers. The man was arrested on September 14, 2021.
Remote wiping
The trade of the phones is not illegal in itself, but it is different when those phones are used solely for criminal purposes. And that was the case here according to the OM. The suspect could wipe users messages remotely if they were arrested by the police.
“Functions like remote message wiping, ensuring anonymity, and cash payments indicate that the suspect deliberately sold crypto phones that were particularly attractive to criminals. This is evidenced by the many decrypted EncroChat messages about drug trafficking and the subsequent convictions,” said the prosecutor.
Criminal clientele
The man denies knowing that his clientele mainly consisted of criminals. The OM does not believe that. “The functionalities of the EncroChat phones prove otherwise, as do his chat conversations. For example, he discusses in a revealing chat the complications of wiping. He writes: when people get caught, do you really think you have the chance to wipe it yourself?”
Revenue
Based on chat conversations and findings from an EncroChat portal, the police calculated that nearly 6.5 million euros were generated from the trade in crypto phones over two years.
“By selling crypto phones, the suspect has contributed to hindering the investigation of serious crimes, such as large-scale drug trafficking. All this with one goal: to make quick money. The OM holds this against him severely.”
On March 12, the case of one of the sub-resellers was already heard in the court in Den Bosch. The OM has appealed against that ruling, and that procedure is still ongoing.
The court will rule on this case on November 10.
