Two men suspected of helping grave robber sell stolen valuables

Two men have been questioned on suspicion of acting as accomplices for a man accused of stealing valuables from a cemetery in The Hague by selling the items to a gold dealer.

The 60-year-old man, who works as a shift manager at the city’s main cemetery on Kerkhoflaan, was arrested in June after police received a tip-off that items such as jewellery and gold fillings had been stolen during working hours.

The prosecution service confirmed on Monday that two other people who worked at the cemetery were suspected of money laundering “by selling valuable objects originating from the cemetery”.

The man was arrested after an inspection of the official register where second-hand and antique traders are required to log their purchases revealed that he had sold several items to a gold exchange bureau.

Prosecutors said there were no indications from the investigation so far that items had been stolen from other cemeteries in the city. The inquiry covers the period from 2023 until the man’s arrest.

The city council has launched its own internal inquiry and set up a hotline for families who were concerned that their relatives’ valuables may have been stolen. So far the hotline has received around 60 calls.