Amsterdam suspects acquitted of murder of Spanish nightclub owner
November 29, 2023

Two Amsterdam residents have been acquitted in Spain in a case in which they were suspected of the liquidation of a nightclub owner. Badr K. and Omar C. were in pre-trial detention for years. This was reported by the newspaper Het Parool.

Shot
The criminal Spanish nightclub owner Abdelhadi Yaqout was shot in the head by two men wearing hoods during the night of January 20 to 21, 2019. This happened when he arrived in his Bentley at his home in the Marbella area.

Suspicious
During the investigation, Badr K. (33) and Omar C. (23) were suspected of this. Initially, Jermaine B. (40), also known as 'King Kong', was also accused. Badr K. and Omar C. were in pre-trial detention in Spain for years.

Assassination squad
The cooperating investigative services initially saw the Amsterdam suspects as part of 'a murder squad' that was involved in more underworld violence, writes Het Parool. But the Spanish criminal case ultimately focused only on Yaqout's liquidation, membership of a criminal organization and firearms possession.

The mobile phones of Jermaine B., Badr K. and Omar C. were said to have been registered in the vicinity of the murder scene during the liquidation of Abdelhadi 'Marco' Yaqout.

Yaqout was seen as a money launderer for the infamous Irish Kinahan clan and is also said to have been deeply involved in the international drug trade.

Suspicions
In the Netherlands, Badr K. and Omar C. were linked to the suspicions surrounding the murder of lawyer Derk Wiersum, the counsel for key witnesses Nabil B. in the Marengo case against Ridouan Taghi and his co-suspects. After his death, Badr K. appeared to have previously searched the name of the counselor on the internet.

Badr K. was sentenced this year to 25 years for the liquidation of Shaquille Goedhart in 2019. An appeal is pending in that case. K. was acquitted of complicity in the attempted liquidation of Spy City employee Sander de L. in 2018.

Omar C. is also suspected of violence in the Netherlands, but the status of the investigations into it was still unclear on Tuesday evening, according to Het Parool. Badr K. was seen as an accomplice of this Omar C.