Dutch news in brief – 5 March - Expatica Netherlands

Lawyer arrested in immigration scam case

A lawyer was arrested in The Hague Friday on suspicion of being part of an agency that conned immigrants. The victims paid out large amounts of money on the basis the agency could help them get a residence permit. In actual fact the agency had no power to obtain permits for its clients. In some cases people were charged EUR 2,300 for the bogus service. Eight other people, including a woman, 48, have already been arrested by police. Investigators believe the woman ran the operation.

Court remands murder suspects in custody

Two men from Den Bosch, aged 36 and 37, who were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the murder of four people in Hilvarenbeek in 1998, are to remain in custody. A court decided that investigators have strong grounds to hold them.

Minister: email me about prank lines

Economic Affairs Minister Laurens Brinkhorst said on Friday that he had received any complaints about prank telephone services, known as treiterlijnen in Dutch. But he said anyone wishing to complain should ring or email his officials. Treiterlijnen are commercial services people can use to organise a fake call to pester a friend. People who are aware of the prank can listen in to the victim’s reaction.

MPS back expanding heroin programme

MPs favour expanding an experiment in which heroin is prescribed to chronic addicts, newspaper De Volkskrant reported. The decision follows the release of a study on the effects of prescribing heroin to 300 addicts. The study found that providing heroin under medical conditions led to a substantial improvement in the addicts’ physical and psychological health, Radio Netherlands said.

Subject: Dutch news