Citing the suspect as “Stijn V.”, multiple reports have confirmed Vanstraelen’s age and former professional cycling career.
Writes Wielerflits from the Netherlands;
As a cyclist, he rode major classics such as Omloop Het Volk and the E3 Prijs Harelbeke at the beginning of this century, twenty years later he is the main suspect in one of the largest fraud cases ever in Belgium.
The 45-year-old Stijn V. from Sint-Truiden has been arrested in Spain, Het Laatste Nieuws reports . He is suspected of fraud worth 24 million euros.
From Niewssblad from Belgium;
V. once rode alongside Tom Boonen as a professional cyclist, but was less well-known. He had to end his career prematurely after a serious fall. Afterwards, he changed tack and started organizing pyramid schemes, among other things.
Now he has been arrested on suspicion of fraud and money laundering. He risks up to 10 years in prison.
And as reported by GVA from Belgium;
Did former Limburg cyclist Stijn V. (45) defraud dozens of Flemish people with empty talk about excessive profits by investing in gold and (fictitious) crypto coins?
And did he funnel millions of euros through a tangle of accounts to invest in real estate in the Spanish Torrevieja?
He himself denies everything during his interrogation.
Vanstraelen’s appearance in a photo of his arrest in Spain made it difficult to identify him.
Up until his arrest, here’s how Vanstraelen presented himself online:
Vanstraelen’s perp walk photo reveals a podgy man with dyed hair transplants and smaller ears.
Between the reports here are some additional facts about Vanstraelen’s arrest:
- Belgian authorities began investigating Vanstraelen and Nano Club in 2018;
- an arrest warrant had been out on Vanstraelen “for years”;
- Vanstraelen is alleged to have personally stolen over ten million euros through Crypto 888 Club and subsequent reboot Ponzis (including Nano Club); and
- following his release by Spanish authorities, Vanstraelen travelled to Belgium and turned himself into police (note this is from Vanstraelen’s Belgian lawyer, Belgian authorities have not confirmed this)
Accomplices of Vanstraelen named by BehindMLM readers over the years include Pieter Van Devijver, Kris Lemmens, Kristof De Vlieger, Tim Vermeiren, François Colin, Patrick Vermeesch, Hendrik Hendrickx, George Van Wijk and Petter Forsberg.
Forsberg is a Norewegian lawyer, who is alleged to have assisted Vanstraelen with laundering stolen Nano Club investor funds through “an opaque tangle of accounts in Singapore [and] Hong Kong”.
No word on whether the Belgian Nano Club investigation extends to Vanstraelen’s accomplices.
