A case of fraud has rocked the SNCB-NMBS and the Train World museum in Schaerbeek. An employee suffering from a gambling addiction embezzled more than €1 million over several years. The situation highlights the flaws in the museum’s internal controls, as well as the dangers of addiction.
A large-scale fraud
Between 2016 and 2021, an employee in the accounts department of Train World ASBL (the SNCB-NMBS train museum in Schaerbeek) orchestrated a fraud by issuing false invoices for services never rendered, such as cleaning or communication. The funds, totalling €1.06 million, were paid into his own bank account.
The deception was not discovered until after the employee had retired, at the close of the 2020 financial year. She then confessed her gambling addiction and expressed her shame:
‘So I didn’t get rich, quite the contrary,’ she declared.
The employee stressed the lack of supervision in her work:
‘But in all these years, nobody has checked up on me. Do you think that’s normal? I could draw up, check, approve and sign the invoices myself. I was responsible from A to Z,’ she explained.
This situation allowed the fraud to go undetected for five years.
‘The museum had annual operating costs of around one million euros. Over five years, this represented €200,000 in false invoices. A fifth of the budget. And nobody noticed. Do you think that’s normal?’
Reactions and measures taken
Following the discovery of the fraud, SNCB-NMBS and Train World filed a complaint in April 2021. The former employee was ordered in March 2023 to repay the amount embezzled.
‘Part [of the amount] has already been received to date,’ the company said.
SNCB-NMBS has also strengthened its internal controls and integrated almost all of its subsidiaries, including Train World ASBL.
The dangers of gambling addiction: a destructive spiral
This case tragically illustrates the consequences of gambling addiction, an often underestimated disorder with devastating effects. Behind the cold figures of a financial embezzlement lies a much darker psychological reality: that of a person losing control, trapped in a spiral of debt, lies and isolation.
According to the experts, pathological gambling is a behavioural addiction comparable to substance abuse: it activates the same neurological pleasure and reward circuits. Gradually, the gambler becomes incapable of resisting the urge to gamble, even knowing that he is jeopardising his professional, social and family situation. This phenomenon is recognised as a mental disorder by the World Health Organisation.