Herman Xennt is the main character in Netflix’s new crime documentary CyberBunker: Criminal UnderworldRead about his story and learn about his family, partner and children in the article below.
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Herman Xennt Talks Netflix’s CyberBunker: The Criminal Underworld
Herman Xennt is featured in Netflix Cyberbunker: The Criminal Underworld as a “typical James Bond 007 villain.” Soon after, a man with longer, silver hair appeared before the camera, preparing to answer questions from the crew of a true-crime documentary from inside a German prison in Trier, where he is currently serving a six-year sentence from 2023.
Filmmakers Max Rainer and Kilian Lieb’s Cyberbunker delves into the story of how Herman, a charismatic man with long blond hair and a black leather jacket, and his group of “mysterious Dutchmen” purchased a NATO bunker beneath the German resort destination of Traben-Trarbach in 2013. CyberBunker 2.0, Xennt’s new underground residence, quickly became a magnet for global illicit businesses.
CyberBunker began providing “bulletproof hosting” for websites in 1995 in another former NATO bunker in Goes, Netherlands. That meant they offered ultra-secure hosting for websites containing illegal or sensitive content, but at a high cost. The New Yorker claims that the majority of its users ran porn sites in the late 1990s.
However, the operation moved to Traben-Trarbach, Germany, within a few years, and among the sites hosted by CyberBunker were The Pirate Bay and WikiLeaks, founded by Julian Assange. Police also claim that it was the source of a botnet attack that took down the routers of about a million users against German telecoms provider Deutsche Telekom in late 2016, according to the Associated Press.
A German cybercrime team began investigating Herman’s activities in 2015. Authorities discovered that Xennt’s data processing center was hosting websites on the Dark Web, including illegal marketplaces. Some of these sites sold drugs, helped people commit credit card fraud, or engaged in other scams. This information was found through intercepted web traffic.
Along the way, Herman teamed up with Irish drug gang leader George “The Penguin” Mitchell to develop his “money machine,” an encrypted phone network and apps.
In September 2019, a raid by more than 600 German police officers resulted in the seizure of servers and the arrest of seven people, including Xennt.
Where is Herman Xennt now?
Although Xennt Herman was cleared of involvement in the crimes on the CyberBunker-hosted sites, he was convicted in December 2021 of organizing a criminal group. Herman received a prison sentence of just under six years. In September 2023, a German court rejected his appeal, making the decision final.
Xennt was finally declared a criminal in December 2021 after a German court heard testimony from Xennt’s defense team, former associates, business partners, and prosecution witnesses. The 62-year-old was convicted of forming a criminal organization with CyberBunker, although he was cleared of aiding and abetting crimes on the websites he hosted.
As a result, he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison. He appealed his sentence, but in 2023, a higher court upheld the sentence indefinitely, so he will remain in custody until he completes his sentence. According to the documents, he is currently being held in a prison in Trier, Germany.
However, to this day Xennt still maintains his innocence:
“My trial was unfair, and neither was the verdict,” he said in the documentary. “Nothing I can say will matter. I was convicted before I was arrested.” He also pointed out that he “didn’t even realize” his client was using his platform for criminal purposes before mysteriously adding,
“I have so many plans for the future. I know that no one else wants or can do what I want to do. You can’t stop me. I’m still going to achieve my goals. Everything is ready. I just need to go home. I want to, and I will finally be able to realize my vision of a better world. No one can stop me.”
Herman Xennt’s age
In 2023, Herman Xennt is 64 years old.
Herman Xennt family
The only family members of Herman Xennt that we know about are his father, sister, and brother-in-law.
His sister and brother-in-law, Anna and René Van Wolferen, live in a village near Arnhem. René is an auxiliary firefighter and works for a pharmaceutical company. He wears a T-shirt that says “We face your fears” and has a pager on his belt. Anna is a tall, friendly, nervous woman with chestnut hair.
Xennt always lived “on the edge,” according to the Van Wolferens, but he was not a violent genius. Instead, he was an intelligent, idealistic, and possibly naive individual who got himself into trouble. They were concerned about his mental health while he was incarcerated, as he spent most of his days playing chess with himself and had little interaction with the outside world.
When Xennt’s father died in January 2020, his lawyer asked that his client be allowed to attend the burial. The appeal was denied. Xennt then requested a laptop to view the service’s live feed, but that request was also denied.
The Van Wolferen family has talked repeatedly about Xennt Herman’s childhood bedroom in Arnhem, and how he was always drawn to futuristic aesthetics. René says that in late middle age, Xennt began experimenting with cannabinoid treatments because he wanted to remain “forever young.” He describes his brother-in-law as retarded.
What is Herman Xennt’s real name?
Herman Xennt’s real name is Herman-Johan Verwoert-Derksen. However, New Yorker said he prefers to be called by his new surname.
Herman Xennt Partner
Herman Xennt has lived with his partner of Dutch Antilles heritage Angelique since he was in his early 20s. They have two sons named Xyonn and Yennoah: X and Y.
Xennt and Angelique soon separated, and she retained primary custody of their son. He also has a son born in 2019, with another mother.
When he bought the Traben-Trarbach estate, Xennt invited his now-adult sons to work there. Their mother, Angelique, also joined them, although she did not work at CyberBunker. A childhood friend of the sons who visited the complex claimed that the family was not completely reunited because Angelique and her sons were housed in an above-ground dormitory with other employees.
Related FAQs
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Where did Herman Xennt come from?
Herman Xennt is from Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands. He grew up in Arnhem, a small city in the eastern Netherlands that was the site of fierce fighting during World War II.
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What is Herman Xennt’s birthday?
Herman Xennt’s birthday is in November.
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How tall is Herman Xennt?
Herman Xennt’s height is just under 5 feet 11 inches.