The Appeal Court has upheld the lower court's ruling sentencing a man from the Netherlands to 20 years in jail but it lowered the term for his Thai wife from 11 years to seven years and four months in a 2014 money laundering case.
Johannes Petrus Maria van Laarhoven, 57, and Mingkhwan van Laarhoven, 35, were given the prison sentences for colluding to launder at least 100 million baht between July 3, 2008 and June 2, 2014, said the Appeal Court's ruling read yesterday.
The lower court on Nov 10, 2015 sentenced the husband to 103 years on a total of 43 counts and the wife to 18 years on 13 counts, for colluding to launder money earned from the illegal trade of cannabis, said the ruling. The court, however, had the prison sentences commuted to the maximum of 20 years for the husband and 12 years for the wife, it said.
The man's claim that he had earned more than 300 million baht from his four coffee shops was far from convincing, while the Thai wife was found to be aware of where her husband's money came from, said the ruling.
But the Appeal Court found Mingkhwan's testimony useful and decided she deserved to have her prison sentenced commuted, said the ruling.
The couple on Oct 8, 2014 had their lawyer file a counter suit against the prosecution and the secretary-general of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo), accusing them of malfeasance in relation to their roles that led to the proceedings being brought against them, said an informed source.
The joint investigation by the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, the Department of Special Investigation, the Amlo and the Justice Ministry began in 2014 when the Dutch government submitted a petition to the Thai Office of the Attorney-General.
It asked the office to consider taking legal action against the man and his Thai wife, who the Dutch government said earned between 600 million and 800 million baht a year from colluding with a transnational criminal syndicate to smuggle cannabis into the Netherlands, said the Appeal Court's ruling.