Dutch military police officer accused of stealing crypto from traveler
How an investigator abused his badge for personal gain.
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- A former Marechaussee investigator is suspected of stealing over €6,000 in crypto from a Schiphol traveler.
- Prosecutors say he used a recovery code found in police records to access the victim’s wallet.
- The suspect allegedly checked the victim’s records about 20 more times after the theft.
- Dutch prosecutors seek a six-month prison sentence and repayment of the stolen cryptocurrency.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
A former investigator with the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is suspected of misusing police systems to steal over €6,000 worth of cryptocurrency from a person passing through Schiphol Airport.
On October 24th, 2025, a traveler was subjected to a screening at a departure checkpoint at Schiphol Airport, of which an official record was made.
A few hours later, the suspect reviewed that record and discovered another record from this person from 2023. There, he stumbles upon a recovery code for a crypto wallet, which can be used to regain access to the victim’s wallet.
Using this recovery code, the former military police officer withdrew over €6,000 from the victim’s crypto wallet and transferred the funds to his own crypto account.
A week after his money went missing, the victim filed a police report, prompting the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service to launch an investigation.
The inquiry revealed that the suspect transferred the money to his regular bank account, which he then exchanged into various types of cryptocurrency in the following days.
During the period that followed, the ex-investigator with the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee queried the victim’s record approximately 20 more times in multiple police systems to monitor the situation.
In February 2026, the defendant discovered that he had become a suspect in the victim’s cryptocurrency theft.
He then contacted the police, claiming that someone else had transferred cryptocurrency into his account and asking for advice on how to return the money because he supposedly lacked the skills to handle the matter himself.
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The Netherlands Public Prosecution Service has concluded that the former investigator’s defense is implausible.
“The defendant grossly abused his powers. A member of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee should, above all, be aware of the unique responsibility that his position entails. He has access to confidential information that citizens must be able to entrust to the government, information that may only be consulted under strict conditions,” the Public Prosecutor stated during the defendant’s sentencing hearing.
As a result, the former investigator was fired from the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. In addition, the Public Prosecution Service is seeking a 6-month prison sentence. Lastly, the Public Prosecutor is asking that the defendant repay the stolen cryptocurrency to the victim.
In the US, an ex-FBI agent working at the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division recently stole $2.5 million in cryptocurrency from wallets that were controlled by various adversarial nation-states.
