Prosecutor confident fugitive wind-power fraudster Hendrik Holt will be caught again

The prosecutor leading the investigation into fugitive wind-power fraudster Hendrik Holt says the escape came as no great surprise. Nils Leimbrock told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that, in a case marked by “countless absurdities,” investigators could no longer be surprised by anything.

Leimbrock previously helped capture Holt in 2020 and is now involved in the renewed search. He said he was confident of success, arguing that Holt’s need for attention and money would make it difficult for him to evade prosecution over the long term.

“Flight is a very strenuous and stressful state,” Leimbrock said. Authorities have disclosed that Holt left behind his wife and child when he fled. He has been missing since failing to return from an approved outing to a Berlin correctional facility at the end of August.

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countless absurdities

Holt had been held in open custody in Berlin since October 2024. Police and prosecutors are searching for him worldwide under a European arrest warrant. The Berlin prosecution service says investigators now have leads, but has not provided further details.

The man from Haselünne in the Emsland region was sentenced by the Osnabrück Regional Court in 2022 to an aggregate prison term of almost nine years. His crimes included organized fraud, bribery and document forgery. He reportedly sold nonexistent wind farms to foreign electricity companies and bribed foreign diplomats in an attempt to obtain immunity from German law enforcement through a diplomatic passport. An ARD documentary, “Holt: The Wind-Power Fraudster,” has also covered the case.

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Flight is a very strenuous and stressful state