Four former directors of investment fund Easy Life have been jailed for between 4.5 and one year by a court in Den Bosch for swindling hundreds of people out of an estimated €42m.

The sentences are less than the public prosecution department had demanded because of the length of time it took to bring the men to court, the Telegraaf reported. They were arrested in 2008.
According to some estimates, some 500 people put €42.5m into the Easy Life fund, but only around €9m was ever invested in US life insurance policies.
The two main defendants, both sentenced to 4.5 years were out of prison on bail. They are both appealing against the ruling.
Negligence
At the beginning of this month it emerged a group of Easy Life investors are taking the financial regulator AFM, the central bank and public prosecution department to court for negligence.
The 275 investors claim the authorities knew the investment fund was fraudulent but failed to stop its activities. Easy Life went bankrupt in September 2008 when its directors were arrested.
The AFM first came in for criticism over its handling of the affair when Easy Life was being wound up. The receivers said at the time the AFM had been warned by investors in 2005 that there were problems, and knew in May 2006 that deposits were not being invested.