Confiscation of bicycle purchased in good faith

Questioner

Good afternoon, some time ago I bought a cargo bike via Marktplaats. It turned out to be stolen a few days later. When I found out, I called the police. They said: 'come to the office, then we will sort things out.' End result: cargo bike confiscated and I am out €4000. Online I come across all kinds of things about buying 'in good faith'. How can it be that the bike is confiscated and I am not compensated in any way? If I had known this, I would probably have acted differently, while in my opinion this is the right thing to do. Unfortunately I do not have a home address or real name of the seller, but I do have a clear photo and a telephone number. Despite this, the report has yielded nothing. I do not want to leave it at that, because €4000 is an insane amount of money to me and I have the strong impression that this gentleman must be known to the police. This is also confirmed by an anonymous source. Greetings,

Lawyer

If you act in good faith, you may indeed have become the new owner of the bicycle. The circumstances under which you purchased the bicycle are important for this (such as the place of purchase, the price, etc.). Have you received an update from the police on the status of the bike? The fact that the bicycle has been confiscated does not necessarily mean that you have lost the bicycle. After all, you may have become the new owner. The bicycle has been confiscated from you and you could file a complaint to get the bicycle back (if the police still have the bicycle). If all goes well, you have received proof of confiscation. You could first call the police to ask what the status of the bicycle is. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to discuss the matter.