Many people in the Kop van Overijssel will know Christmas. He had a campsite and several catering establishments. One of those businesses caught fire last summer, De Blauwe Hand in Wanneperveen. It was one of the most famous guest houses in the region. Police say the building was set on fire by throwing a firebomb on the roof.
kidnapped and beaten
Many local residents point to Christmas as the mastermind behind the fire, as the property was nominated to be auctioned and he “wanted to cash in on insurance money soon”. In addition, it is whispered that he is deep in the criminal environment and has even been kidnapped. He would have been severely beaten in the hostage situation. The police say they cannot comment on the case for privacy reasons, neither can his lawyer.
Christmas herself claims to be a broken man. Literally, because he has broken several ribs, but also psychologically. According to him, this is mainly because everyone in the neighborhood is looking at him with their backs. He says he has had difficult years and suffers from PTSD. “It all started with that fuss around that painting.”
Fake Van Gogh
With ‘that hassle’, Kerst refers to the criminal case that is being conducted against him. The court previously convicted him because he tried to sell a fake Van Gogh for fifteen million euros with false papers. He should have been in prison for six months, but the catering entrepreneur appealed.
That appeal was filed today. Due to physical complaints, he struggles to get into the courtroom and takes a seat in the suspect’s bench. He says he is very confused. “I forget a lot”. It is suspected that he forged papers from the Van Gogh museum in order to sell a painting. It would be a preliminary study of the master painter’s work ‘The Harvest’. A real Van Gogh would be worth a fortune. However, after the work was checked by experts at the museum, it turned out to be a crap painting with a value of 250 euros.
forged letter
The letter to Kerst, which stated that “it was not an authentic work by Van Gogh”, was adapted by him, according to the OM. The word ‘not’ disappeared in a word processing program and according to the judiciary he went to the farmer with those papers. He himself says he knows no better than that the painting was a real Van Gogh and that he is not at all handy with computers. “Someone else manages my mail and stuff.”‘ He denies having committed fraud.
A number of art dealers were initially delighted that they could ‘pick up’ the painting for fifteen million euros. But when they finally inquired at the Van Gogh museum, the monkey came out of the sleeve. The painting turned out to be worthless and the papers false.
High penalty demand
Because, according to the Public Prosecution Service, Kerst has aimed to disadvantage people for fifteen million euros, he deserves a higher sentence than was imposed on him by the court, the public prosecutor finds on appeal. If it’s up to him, Christmas will disappear behind bars for eleven months.
His counsel, old hand Cees Korvinus, finds the sentence extremely high. “In the end, no one was harmed, because it soon became clear that it was about false papers. My client acted naive at most.” According to Korvinus, his client can go free.
Kerst himself says he is shocked by the sentence. “And because everyone is already vomiting me, I have in fact already had enough punishment.” The court will let you know in two weeks whether Christmas has to go to jail.
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