Wind farm fraudster Hendrik Holt flees Berlin prison during day release
Hendrik Holt, sentenced to seven and a half years, did not return from unsupervised day release on 25 August. A manhunt is underway.
Manhunt for convicted fraudster Hendrik Holt
Hendrik Holt, convicted of fraud, has escaped from a Berlin correctional facility. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Osnabrück state prosecutor's office confirmed on Thursday that the 36-year-old failed to return to the detention facility on 25 August following unsupervised day release. A spokesman declined to provide further details for investigative reasons.
Holt was once considered a "wonder child" of the energy industry. In 2022, the Osnabrück Regional Court sentenced him to seven years and six months in prison for gang and commercial fraud. Together with the former finance director of the Holt Group, he sold wind farm projects that did not exist, thereby defrauding companies of several million euros. Family members were also involved in the fraud — they forged documents among other things and were also sentenced to custodial sentences as accomplices.
Most recently, Holt served his sentence in open custody and was permitted to leave the facility during the day. Since he was officially registered in Berlin, he was held there.
The Osnabrück state prosecutor's office also confirmed receipt of a criminal complaint in connection with the possible purchase of Rostock-Laage Airport, with which Holt is associated. In the complaint, Holt is alleged to have committed fraud alongside two other persons. According to a report in Die Welt, he was present at a meeting of buyers and sellers last year.
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung