BANGKOK – Johan van Laarhoven a Dutch national who founded cannabis cafes in Brabant has been jailed for 103 years by a court in Bangkok for money laundering.
Johan van Laarhoven, 55, will have to spend 20 years in jail because the 43 sentences can be served concurrently, the court found him guilty of laundering millions of euros in cash earned via his four cafes in Den Bosch and Tilburg.
Van Laarhoven was arrested in Thailand in 2014 along with his Thai wife. He moved to Pattaya in 2008 after 30 years in the soft drugs trade. His wife, Tukta, has been jailed for 12 years for her role in the case.
The arrest was made after Dutch public prosecution officials asked colleagues in Thailand for their help. They had been investigating Van Laarhoven’s company The Grass Company since 2011.
As part of that investigation, officials were given the green light to sequester property and cash amounting to some €24m, much of which they believe had been invested in Thailand.
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