43-year-old Maati K. is a well-known name in the Antwerp criminal environment. The ex-porter is said to have been active in the past as a flamboyant seller of luxury watches that were very popular with drug criminals. K. remained out of sight of the outside world for a long time, until 2018 when shots were fired from a car at the The View chip shop on Frank Craeybeckxlaan in Deurne, where he was a manager.
K. appeared to have close contacts with drug boss Abdellilah ‘Black’ EM, who had been on the run for years. Last year they were convicted together for importing tons of cocaine. K. was then sentenced to ten years in prison and had to cough up criminal assets of 20 million euros. The case has yet to be heard on appeal.
In addition to his criminal activities, K. was also known as a real estate entrepreneur and chip shop operator. In addition to the business in Deurne, he also had a chip shop in Hoboken at Kioskplaats. That, in turn, was the target of an attack in February last year. A fire bomb caused damage to the front door. Mayor De Wever (N-VA) responded with a temporary closure. K. has been abroad for years now, he is supposed to be staying in Dubai.
READ ALSO. His chip shops were set on fire and shot at, he was jailed for ten years and now a drug criminal is suspected of money laundering
“Inveterate habitual criminal”
In a separate investigation, the public prosecutor’s office prosecuted the Antwerp resident for a whole series of financial crimes, ranging from money laundering to forgery and tax fraud. For example, K. bought several houses, land and apartments for which he took out loans that, according to the public prosecutor’s office, he could not repay with legal means. To take out these loans, he also submitted false pay slips. “He is an inveterate habitual criminal,” the prosecutor said last month.
K.’s defense had requested his acquittal. “The prosecutor’s office’s story creates atmosphere and is part of the so-called war on drugs. With this bombing they are trying to unlawfully hit my client,” Johan Platteau pleaded. “They want to take away everything he built up while working.”
The court ruled that K. is guilty of most of the charges, although he was acquitted of some offenses. This applies, among other things, to amounts deposited by Frank S. from the criminal environment, or by Land Invest and by a family member of drug extractor Frank De Tank. The amount of illegal funds with which K. bought real estate was adjusted from 870,000 to 464,000 euros.
“The defendant’s actions indicate a greatly reduced sense of standards and a fraudulent attitude that has lasted for years,” the court says. The chip shop owner and drug criminal was sentenced to forty months in prison. Because Maati K. has been living abroad for some time, his immediate arrest was ordered.
K. is also hit hard in the wallet. Four houses, an apartment and a commercial ground floor were confiscated, as well as an amount of 900,000 euros. The properties in the Drabstraat in Mortsel, the Antwerpsesteenweg in Hoboken, on the Amerikalei in Antwerp and on the Eilandje were purchased with funds that had no legal origin.
K. still has to pay more than 240,000 euros to the tax authorities, who had filed a civil action.
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Tags: Drug criminal loses properties pay million euros conviction money laundering Antwerp
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