MAASTRICHT/SITTARD - The public prosecutor's office (OM) in Maastricht suspects seven individuals from Sittard, all belonging to the same family, of frequent laundering of criminal funds from drug trafficking.Property such as cars, paintings and expensive branded jewelry with a street value estimated at one million euros has been seized.

The case came to a head when the Social Investigation Department raided three homes in Sittard in late January. In the process, the seven suspects mentioned above were arrested on suspicion of large-scale fraud. Together they allegedly received several tons of unjustified support. According to Cindy Reijnders, spokeswoman for the Public Prosecutor's Office, new criminal offenses came to light during this large fraud investigation. "The indictment has now been expanded to include money laundering, among other things, and we have seized their assets. The investigation is still ongoing at the moment," says Reijnders, who indicates that the prosecution plans to file a deprivation claim for the money the suspects obtained through the support fraud. The five women (ages 25, 26, 27, 28 and 50) and the two men aged 57 and 29 are no longer in custody.