Wind power fraudster Hendrik Holt arrested in Dubai

The escaped wind power fraudster Hendrik Holt has been arrested in Dubai. This was announced by the Osnabrück public prosecutor's office. The wanted man was arrested on Tuesday as a result of joint searches by the Osnabrück public prosecutor's office and the Osnabrück Central Criminal Inspectorate's directorate search, said a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office, Martin Schanz. The “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung” and “OM-Online” had previously reported on the arrest.

Holt is also still in Dubai, said Schanz. The next step would be to submit the extradition documents. Holt had been on the run since he failed to return from an approved exit to the Berlin correctional facility where he was housed on August 25.

In Berlin, Holt was in open prison. The fraudster, who comes from Haselünne in Emsland, was wanted worldwide with a European arrest warrant. One day after his escape, the Berlin prison received an email saying that Holt would not be coming back.

“With love from Moscow” on Instagram

It was not known where he was. An Instagram post picked up by the media said: “With love from Moscow, the caviar here is fantastic.” At the time, the Osnabrück public prosecutor's office did not provide any information about the authenticity of the post.

Around half of the prison sentence had been served

In 2022, the Osnabrück regional court sentenced Hendrik Holt to a total prison sentence of almost nine years. It was about gang fraud, bribery and forgery. Most recently he was in a prison in Berlin. He had been in open prison since the end of October 2024.

Holt, about whom there is also an ARD documentary ("Holt - The Wind Power Swindler"), had, among other things, sold supposedly existing wind farms to foreign electricity companies that in reality did not exist. He also bribed foreign diplomats to make himself immune from German prosecutors with a diplomatic passport.