REVEALED!
…BOLLE JOS BEHIND SHALIMAR’S EMPIRE
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara (Kamalo)
An international money-laundering scandal has exploded around Shalimar Trading Company, owned by Lebanese businessman Hassan Mroue, after intelligence sources linked the firm to Dutch cocaine kingpin Jos Leijdekkers, widely known in Europe’s underworld as “Bolle Jos.”
Investigations by financial and security agencies indicate that millions of dollars in drug proceeds from Leijdekkers’ cocaine empire were channeled through Shalimar Trading Company into Sierra Leone’s construction and import sectors.
The funds reportedly financed luxury property developments at Spur Road, the LOR Restaurant at Goderich, and large-scale vehicle and Kekeh imports—all designed to disguise the criminal origin of the money.
According to multiple financial-intelligence reports, Bolle Jos’s syndicate moves cash from drug routes in Latin America and Western Europe into West Africa, where weak financial oversight provides cover.
In Sierra Leone, Shalimar Trading allegedly became the principal conduit: laundering funds through real-estate projects, overpriced construction contracts, and import operations that transact largely in cash and seldom through regulated banks.
“Sierra Leone was the perfect gap in the chain, ” said one investigator. “The money came in disguised as investment and left as clean capital.”
The scandal deepened when investigators traced an estimated $2 million shipment of motorbikes imported ahead of the 2023 elections to accounts connected with Shalimar Trading.
Financial officers believe the bikes were purchased with Bolle Jos’s cocaine money, then distributed across political networks to convert illicit funds into influence.
At the same time, Hassan Mroue’s sudden real-estate surge raised alarms. Within a short span, Shalimar-linked companies reportedly acquired military-owned land in Goderich and Wellington, built commercial facilities, and invested heavily in Spur Road projects—all with no clear financing trail.
Payments were often made in hard U.S. dollars, bypassing the banking system and violating anti-money-laundering regulations.
Dutch and European Union law-enforcement agencies list Jos Leijdekkers among Europe’s most wanted fugitives, accused of coordinating multi-tonne cocaine shipments through Rotterdam and Antwerp and laundering profits through shell companies worldwide.
Evidence now points to Sierra Leone as one of his newest laundering bases, with Shalimar Trading at the centre.
Sources close to the investigation describe the Bolle Jos–Mroue relationship as a “financial alliance of convenience.”
Leijdekkers supplied the dirty money; Shalimar provided legitimate cover through imports, real estate, and political connections.
From Kekeh shipments to luxury construction sites, the partnership allegedly allowed drug money to circulate freely in Freetown’s economy, undermining national security and financial integrity.
In a message sent to Hassan Mroue, Salone Compass Newspaper sought for clarification on these serious allegations but as at press time, no official reply had been received from him.
If the evidence stands, the Bolle Jos–Shalimar scandal will rank among the most serious cases of transnational financial infiltration in Sierra Leone’s history—where drug money and corruption collide under the banner of “foreign investment.”
Salone Compass will continue tracing the money trail from Rotterdam to Freetown, exposing every link in this shadow alliance that threatens the credibility of Sierra Leone’s financial system.
Investigation continues…