READ ALSO. ASSIS. Suspect left exchange office without money after murdering officer: “I don’t remember being stabbed”
At the end of November, the Antwerp court of assizes sentenced With to thirty years’ imprisonment for the robbery murder of Bola Omotosho (55). The victim, who was an exchange agent in a Western Union office in Antwerp, had been stabbed to death. Deep stab wounds had pierced the man’s heart and lung, among other things. Because money had also disappeared – the floor was littered with banknotes – the Lieren resident was found guilty of robbery.
On Monday Marcello stood trial before the criminal court in Mechelen. “During a search as part of the murder investigation, the police found four grams of weed and drug paraphernalia in an apartment in the center of Lier. Drugs he gave to his girlfriend, which amounts to trafficking. And when he was in the Antwerp prison, another 18 grams of cannabis were found during a check,” the Mechelen prosecutor explained. He demanded six months and a fine of 8,000 euros for both drug offenses.
READ ALSO. ASSIS. 30 years in prison for murdering stock agent Bola
During a check, 18 grams of cannabis were found in his cell in the Antwerp prison. — © BELGA
Trainee
The public prosecutor’s office had brought a second file against With to Monday’s hearing. A case of bank card fraud. “In 2019 – a year before the robbery murder in Antwerp – the man worked as an intern in a garage in Heist-op-den-Berg. Because he had to take a car to the inspection, he was given a bank card. But in doing so he committed fraud,” the Public Prosecution Service explained. “A significant amount of money – more than 40,000 euros – was removed from the account. And the strange thing is that he had the ING app on his smartphone. But he also put that of Axa – the bank of the bank card in question – on it. The gentleman logged in and managed to make transfers and withdraw money.”
“He quickly came into the spotlight because he was the new intern, but that does not mean that he also committed those crimes.”
Hanne Lenaerts
Lawyer accused
According to the Public Prosecution Service, Marcello With also logged in to a WiFi network in Antwerp whenever money was withdrawn in the city. Some of the money ended up in the bank account of a man who had lost his bank card. An additional eight months in prison and a fine of 800 euros were imposed for those facts.
No proof
Lawyer Hanne Lenaerts emphasized that her client has never traded drugs. “The drugs found were for personal use. During the investigation, no money was found that could have come from drug trafficking or no notes were found that pointed to drug trafficking,” she responded.
The Lieren resident also strongly denied the house theft at the garage in Heist-op-den-Berg. “Of course he quickly came into the spotlight because he was the new intern. And just then the money disappeared. But that does not mean that my client also committed those crimes,” said Lenaerts. “No items were found during a search that indicated bank fraud. There was also no further investigation into the man who lost his bank card.”
According to the defense, everything could be regarded as suspicious, but no evidence of guilt was provided. Moreover, the lawyer found that the reasonable period for litigation had been exceeded in both files.
The court will deliver a verdict on April 22.
READ ALSO. ASSIS. “He acted out of pure greed”: prosecutor demands 28 years in prison after the robbery of stock agent Bola
){kind=link}