4 months Ago
Targeting of Commoners in Murder Plot
The assassination attempts occurred from 2016 to 2022, and in all, Dutch intelligence has confirmed at least 14 murder requests found in the hacked data. Seven of those were deemed to be solid. The alleged intended victims were not figures associated with organised crime but instead ordinary people — a primary school teacher, a hospital nurse and a municipal civil servant.
Clients paid anything between €1,000 and nearly €10,000 and often wrote elaborate and graphically violent murder briefs. Another said the target "needs to be burned alive" – even identifying an elderly parent who lives with him. Another directive said the murder should take place when a child would not see it happen.
A 42-year-old man from The Hague, Imran M., was convicted last year of trying to have his ex-wife killed twice in one case that was confirmed. He had offered money, $4,000, with half paid in advance, and he had gone into great detail about where she worked, drove her car and the rest of the routine. The woman and her children went into hiding for six months out of fear for their safety.
Scam Exposed, Police Continue Investigations
Operational under different names for years, the dark website is known to offer assassination services worldwide in exchange for a few thousand euros of bitcoin. However, the marketplace is fraudulent. He has promised a hit and asks for money, then takes money and vanishes – killing — none. Victimised clients often do not report the fraud to authorities because the service is illegal.
The hacked platform, while a scam itself, has resulted in dozens of convictions across nine countries. The broadcaster who obtained access to the data then gave it to law enforcement, sparking investigations from several police units in the Netherlands.
Police spokesman Thomas Aling said police have already contacted a number of the victims to tell them they had been scammed, along with some of the suspects, most of whom widely sold plans for windmills, solar panels and biomass gasification plants. He said that attempts are made to search for suspects via bitcoin payments, but it entails work-intensive tasks which take time to do because the process is also highly technical. 'When something like this happens, we take them very seriously, because putting an order through is a crime. "We look forward to being able to arrest those who have ordered this operation against our staff, and we will bring them to justice.
