Didier Reynders charged: the lottery money laundering scandal
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6 Nov 2025 •
Reading time: 3 minutes Didier Reynders, former Deputy Prime Minister and European Commissioner for Justice, was charged with money laundering on 16 October. At the heart of the case was a money-laundering scheme involving the repeated purchase of lottery tickets and cash deposits over several years.
A European Commissioner under judicial investigation
The announcement caused a political upheaval in Brussels last December. Didier Reynders, a leading figure in the Mouvement Réformateur and an influential member of the European Commission, was accused of money laundering.
According to Le Soir, De Standaard and Follow the Money, the investigating magistrate formally charged Mr Reynders with money laundering and other as yet unqualified offences. The indictment follows a series of searches and hearings dating back to late 2023, when the first suspicions of suspicious financial flows emerged.
The scheme: laundering cash via e-lottery tickets
Didier Reynders used a discreet and effective mechanism. For over a year, he would go to the petrol station a few hundred metres from his home to buy electronic lottery tickets, known as e-tickets. He used them as a money laundering tool.
According to the investigators, Didier Reynders purchased nearly €200,000 worth of e-tickets in cash over five years. The winnings were then paid into his player account before being transferred to his personal bank account. It was the National Lottery itself that reported these transactions to the Financial Information Processing Unit (CTIF) in 2022.
700,000 in cash
The case took an even more serious turn when the National Bank opened a parallel investigation into ING Belgium, the former minister’s personal bank.
Between 2008 and 2018, nearly €700,000 in cash was allegedly deposited in his current account, without being immediately reported. It was not until 2023 that the bank finally alerted the authorities.
These deposits, combined with flows from lottery e-tickets, fuelled suspicions of a structured money-laundering scheme. Fractional cash payments designed to circumvent financial vigilance obligations.
Money laundering through gambling, a known but underestimated loophole
The Reynders case is not the first to highlight money laundering through gambling. Not so long ago, an Italian family was convicted of money laundering in the famous Casino Café de Paris in Monaco.
How does it work?
Casinos and lotteries offer hybrid payment channels: cash, player accounts, online withdrawals, etc. This is an ideal environment for recycling small sums over time.
According to a former CTIF expert:
‘Money laundering through gambling is discreet, repetitive and often invisible, because each operation seems insignificant.’
This method is based on the principle of fractioning, a strategy that transforms small bets into ‘clean’ winnings before depositing them in the banking system.
This technique is not widely used, as the rate of return (i.e. the amount won compared with the amount spent) is around 60%.