Caught 'em all Raiders facing four years in jail over violent €48k Pokémon card robbery

Three men are facing jail time in The Netherlands after a violent €48,000 Pokémon card robbery in which the victim was locked into a cupboard.

Prosecutors are looking for four years' imprisonment to be imposed on three men for the robbery in December 2020.

According to the Public Prosecution Service the trio posed as buyers but instead assaulted the man, pushed him into a cupboard and locked him up.

The victim was able to use his mobile phone to call his father who alerted the police.

The accused 30-year-old was found by prosecutors to have offered the stolen cards for sale to foreign buyers in January 2021.

An investigation found one of the suspects, a 30-year-old man from Lelystad, previously had contact with the victim.

In October that year, he bought two Pokémon cards from the man at his home after contact was made through Facebook.

The two kept in touch via WhatsApp after the buyer said he was interested in buying other cards from the victim.

He said he wanted to buy certain cards for €50,000 to €51,000, but that he did not have the money, adding he might know someone else who might be interested.

On December 6, the victim was approached via WhatsApp by this potentially interested buyer, according to prosecutors.

After agreeing to the purchase, the men turned up as arranged but instead robbed the seller.

“In view of the seriousness of the criminal offenses, the Public Prosecution Service considers a longer prison term to be appropriate. The public prosecutor demanded four years in prison for all suspects (less pre-trial detention).”