This is a concluding article about the conviction of ghost footballer Bernio “Jordan” Enzo Verhagen. Earlier we wrote a piece (here) about how he went around the world as a ghost football player. We also published a five-part podcast series (here) about his rise and fall.
Bernio “Jordan” Enzo Verhagen today declared in court in Denmark that he is guilty of fraud against the Danish club Viborg FF. He was fined more than 2,000 euros for this fraud. In June he was convicted in Denmark for assault, threats, making naked images undesirable, fleeing the police and robbery. In addition to the fine for fraud, Verhagen has received a total prison sentence of one year and three months.
In this document we explain how Verhagen could be convicted in Denmark in recent months.
Verhagen was arrested in Denmark on November 26, 2019, after an argument with his Chilean ex-girlfriend Nayaret Muci. The couple got into an argument in a kiosk at Viborg station, after which Verhagen pulled the Chilean through the kiosk. He forced her to the ground and robbed her of her phone and passport, among other things. Kiosk employees called the police. When the police arrived, Verhagen had already left. After an arrest warrant was issued, Verhagen reported himself to the station a little later. There he was arrested on suspicion of robbing and assaulting the Chilean woman.
From the moment that Verhagen was in custody, things piled up against him. In addition to the charges of the Chilean – including assault, robbery and threats – a Danish ex-girlfriend of Verhagen also filed a complaint, together with her father. They reported to the police that Verhagen had threatened them with death. Parallel to this was the investigation of the Danish police into the possible fraud of Verhagen against Viborg FF. Because this concerned an international investigation, with possible fraud that could be traced back to Chile and South Africa, among others, this investigation took longer.
A hearing took place on 16 December 2019, at which the Danish prosecutor announced that he would add a new charge. Verhagen allegedly assaulted Muci in a hotel room in Denmark, an event that left her 40 injuries. At the end of the hearing, the judge decided to extend Verhagen’s custody to at least January 10, so that the investigation could continue. Then things went completely wrong when Verhagen was transported from the court back to prison. During the transport, Verhagen managed to escape in the town of Holstebro from the agents who transported him.
The ghost footballer sprinted into the streets of Holstebro at an unguarded moment. The Danish police could not keep up with him. A manhunt was opened for him, with additional police units and police dogs, but the police were unable to catch Verhagen. In the course of the evening, he suddenly started posting on Instagram. Apparently Verhagen had got hold of a phone during his flight. In the reports he tried to pretend that he was in Aarhus, a town more than 100 kilometers from Holstebro. Verhagen also indicated in a long statement on Instagram that he was on his way to Sweden.
The Danish police did not believe it and kept looking in Holstebro. At three in the morning they received a number of tips from people who thought they had seen Verhagen walking at an apartment complex near Holstebro station. The police combed the building from top to bottom. In the basement of the building they found Verhagen sitting on the ground. He was immediately arrested. His escape attempt had failed after more than twelve hours.
One escape attempt alone carries a four-month prison sentence in Denmark, so that was added to Verhagen. In the months that followed, new charges were added. For example, Muci indicated that Verhagen had also made unwanted nude images of her and that he would have raped her. The Covid-19 outbreak subsequently complicated the handling of the case. For example, Muci could not fly to Denmark to give her testimony. Ultimately it was decided to do this digitally.
On June 24, 2020, the Danish judge ruled on all charges against Verhagen, except for the fraud. The judge found him guilty of everything except the rape, for which there was insufficient evidence. Verhagen was sentenced to one year and three months in prison for assault, threats, robbery, making naked images undesirable and fleeing the police.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the football fraud continued. Viborg FF filed a report with the police for fraud related to attracting Verhagen. Viborg FF thought it had been approached by the Stellar Group for a possible investment and collaboration. The Stellar Group is a major agency in the football world, with clients such as Gareth Bale, once the most expensive footballer in the world. The sporting director of Viborg FF, Jesper Fredberg, thought he had been in contact with Mo Sinouh, a Dutch director of the Stellar Group for months. During that contact, Fredberg was tipped to sign Verhagen.
Viborg FF would have been promised by the Stellar Group that if they were to sign Verhagen, the club could quickly sell him on to the Chinese club Hebei Elite. Viborg FF, Verhagen only had to train fit for a few months. Viborg FF also received the documents for the upcoming transfer, containing the so-called deal for the transfer, including the signature of the Chinese club board of Hebei Elite. Based on that rosy outlook, Viborg brought in FF Verhagen on November 5, 2019.
But when Verhagen arrived in Denmark, it soon turned out that nothing of the deal was right. Viborg FF had not been in contact with the real Mo Sinouh in the previous months, but with someone who pretended to be the agent via email, Whatsapp and telephone. The contracts sent by the Chinese club Hebei Elite for the so-called transfer of Verhagen also turned out to be forged. The club suspected that Verhagen himself was behind it, broke the contract with him and reported fraud to the police.
After his arrest, Verhagen claimed in front of the cameras of Danish television that he himself was a victim in the fraud case. Verhagen said that, like Viborg FF, he was cheated by someone posing as Mo Sinouh. “We have been fooled,” Verhagen told TV Midtvest in court. “We thought he (Mo Sinouh, ed.) Was my agent.” According to Verhagen, he himself had nothing to do with the fraud and was merely a victim. But BT and VICE Sports uncovered information that Verhagen himself used Mo Sinouh’s stolen identity to fraudulently enter professional clubs.
VICE spoke with Vasili Barbis, the agent who brought Verhagen to South Africa, to sign with Cape Town City FC. Barbis was approached via Whatsapp in July 2019 by someone posing as Mo Sinouh, with a proposal. If Barbis were to find a club in South Africa where Verhagen could sign, then that club could sell him on quickly and with great profit to an interested club in China: Hebei Elite. It sounded like a great deal. Barbis submitted the deal to Cape Town City FC, and the club took the plunge. Verhagen was brought in by Cape Town City FC and proudly presented. The club even did a photoshoot with him in the new outfit.
But then everything started to rattle. “I thought I was in contact with Mo Sinouh from the Stellar Group all along,” says Barbis. “But when Verhagen was in Cape Town, the so-called Mo Sinouh suddenly no longer wanted to talk to me on the phone.” In addition, the documents for the transfer turned out to be incorrect. “The emails with documents supposedly came from Hebei Elite in China, but when I checked it turned out to be a Swiss email address,” Barbis continues. “Then I decided to check the deal with friends of mine who have contacts with Hebei Elite. They said the club didn’t know about a deal. ”
According to Barbis, it is clear how things work: Verhagen approached him himself with the stolen identity of Mo Sinouh and sent Barbis the fraudulent documents for the transfer to Hebei Elite via a Swiss e-mail account. All so that Cape Town City would sign him. “I think one hundred percent that Verhagen and the fake Mo Sinouh are the same person,” says Barbis. “I know that for sure. I don’t see any other option. ” When Barbis confronted Verhagen in Cape Town with the information he had found, Verhagen fled South Africa in a hurry.
Verhagen then turned up in Chile, at the club Audax Italiano. VICE and BT have retrieved evidence that indicates that Verhagen also entered there fraudulently. Here, too, the club (Audax Italiano) was promised that Verhagen could soon be sold to Hebei Elite, if they signed him. We have evidence showing that Verhagen set up this fictitious transfer himself. A former girlfriend of Verhagen from the Netherlands was applauded by Verhagen on August 25, 2019, with the question whether she wanted to sign a contract for the fake deal between Audax Italiano and Hebei Elite, for the fictitious transfer of Verhagen.
Verhagen held up against this girlfriend that she had to sign for someone from Hebei Elite, because that person could not do that herself. “You have to sign for that chappie,” he texted to the girlfriend. “Not my initials, but those chinos.” He adds: “Remove it from your mail immediately.” This friend now says that she had no idea what she was doing, that she just wanted to give Verhagen a hand. But what actually happened is that Verhagen asked her to put a false signature on a fraudulent contract for a fictitious transfer. All to frame Audax Italiano and persuade the club to sign him.
This request for a false signature shows that Verhagen himself was in the process of forging contracts for a fake transfer to Chinese club Hebei Elite months before signing with Viborg FF in Denmark. With the prospect of this fictional transfer, he made clubs enthusiastic to sign him. VICE also holds the fraudulent documents for this fake transfer. It says that Audax Italiano would receive no less than two million dollars from Hebei Elite for Verhagen. The club must have been delighted with that prospect, but the deal turned out to be a myth.
When Verhagen got too hot under his feet in Chile, he quickly left for Denmark to sign with Viborg FF. At Viborg FF they also thought they had a golden deal in their hands and could quickly sell Verhagen to Hebei Elite. The Danish club has been framed in the same way in bringing in Verhagen. Today the fraud case was brought before the Danish court. Verhagen declared that he was guilty of fraud against Viborg FF. He also stated that he had tried to defraud the Lyngby club. The judge ruled that he will not receive an extra prison sentence on top of the prison sentence of one year and three months that Verhagen already had. He does have to pay a fine of 2,000 euros for the fraud.
“It was a bad idea,” Verhagen concluded in the Danish court. “This case has been a wild ride,” prosecutor Katrine Melgaard said in a response to VICE. “But I am happy with the result.” In Denmark you can go on leave after half of your imprisonment. For Verhagen, half of his imprisonment has already ended. “We now have to figure out how we can bring him back to the Netherlands. Then he is free again ”, Melgaard concludes.
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