Higher sentence for TU Delft scam

Higher sentence for TU Delft scam

The Hague court sentenced Rotterdam resident Keyvan A. (36) to 220 hours of community service and nine months’ suspended imprisonment for attempted fraud on behalf of TU Delft. The public prosecutor had wanted (in Dutch) A. to be sentenced to 140 hours of community service and a suspended prison sentence of four months. But given his role as initiator – and his criminal record – the court found this too little.

Because of financial problems, A. was looking for a way to get money. He enlisted the help of his then 19-year-old colleague Levi van L. from The Hague, who was skilled with computers. A. then phoned Miele to place an order for two hundred robot vaccuum cleaners. When doing so, he pretended to be a TU Delft employee. He did the same at Central Point Nijmegen, where he ordered two hundred iPad Minis. The total value of the orders was two tons.

A.’s computer assistant Van L. created the domain name tudelft-it with which he mailed order forms to the two companies. To collect the delivery, A. asked his old friend Vincent S. (41) from Wormerveer for help. He was wearing a t-shirt with TU logo. The offenders had wanted to resell the items, but upon delivery on 20 January this year, they were caught by the police called in by the wary companies. Computer help Van L., who also heard demands for 140 hours of community service, was given 120 hours of community service. ‘Courier’ Vincent S. was given 70 hours of community service in line with the demand. (Cerberus/JJB)