Crime boss Willem Holleeder was sentenced to nine years in jail by an Amsterdam court on Friday afternoon for his part in blackmailing of three property tycoons.

Holleeder was also found guilty of leading a criminal organisation, money laundering and assault, news agency ANP said.
The public prosecution department had called on the court to sentence Holleeder to 12 years in jail.
Verdicts on Holleeder’s eight co-defendants is not yet known..
The trial is the result of a three-year investigation into Holleeder, who was jailed in the 1980s for kidnapping beer magnate Freddie Heineken.
The current case against him was largely based on witness testimony. The most damning are recorded statements given by property tycoon and alleged blackmail victim Willem Endstra, who was murdered in 2004.
A second blackmail victim, Kees Houtman, was also murdered.
Holleeder’s trial began earlier this year but was halted after he developed serious heart trouble. The hearings resumed in September.
In early October key witness Bram Zeegers died of a drugs overdose just days after giving evidence.