The Didier Reynders affair is taking an explosive turn. With searches, bank hearings and calls for a committee of enquiry, the scandal surrounding the former Finance Minister and former European Commissioner for Justice is exposing Belgium’s failings in the fight against money laundering.
A scandal with multiple ramifications
The Didier Reynders affair is taking on a new dimension. The latest revelations about a money-laundering investigation targeting the former Finance Minister and European Commissioner for Justice have shaken up the Belgian political scene. Following searches at the home of a Brussels antique dealer and at the home of Jean-Claude Fontinoy, a long-time close friend of Reynders, the questions are piling up. The focus is now on the banks, which are accused of failing to detect or report certain suspicious financial movements in good time.
Several banks were questioned by the parliamentary committee. But the elected representatives received few precise answers. The parliamentarians wondered how it was possible for financial flows potentially linked to money laundering to have passed through without triggering sufficient alerts.
Olivier De Maesschalck, ING’s Compliance Manager: ‘Our IT systems detect atypical transactions and generate alerts which are then analysed by our teams. The final decision on whether or not to report lies with the company’s anti-money laundering officer, who is completely independent.’
Sofie Merckx (PTB): ‘ING claims to manage a customer base of 3.8 million, including 2,300 politically exposed individuals. How was Didier Reynders, a leading political figure, able to avoid any reporting, even though these were cash deposits, without any sophisticated arrangements?’
Money laundering methods implicated
At the heart of the investigation, one detail in particular caught the investigators’ attention: Didier Reynders’ massive purchase of lottery tickets. The suspicion is that these purchases were used to inject funds of dubious origin into the legal circuit, a practice known to money laundering specialists.
The investigation also focused on a series of atypical financial transactions and close links with certain personalities in the business and art worlds. The searches were aimed in particular at gathering evidence of suspicious financial flows, undeclared loans and purchases of valuable objects for which the origin of the funds remains unclear.
The PS on the front line
The Socialist Party (PS) intends to take the debate further.
‘[Didier Reynders] has never strengthened anti-money laundering measures, either in terms of legislation or controls. The fight against major tax fraud has never been his priority,’ accuses MP Khalil Aouasti. ‘This political record, combined with the current series of revelations, fully justifies the opening of a parliamentary enquiry to shed light on the facts, assess the failings of the banks and propose concrete reforms to combat money laundering.’
In his view, the affair highlights not only the personal responsibility of the former minister, but also his political choices.
The PS is therefore calling for a parliamentary committee of enquiry to be set up. The aim is to shed light on the facts, examine the flaws in the banking system and propose concrete reforms.
This is not the first time that Didier Reynders has been the target of suspicion, but the accumulation of revelations is weakening his position and rekindling old criticisms. The opposition denounces a guilty tolerance of major tax fraud and money laundering.
‘Scandal after scandal, we see the shortcomings of the banking sector,’ added Khalil Aouasti.
A case that is far from closed
The hearings, searches and tense exchanges in committee are only the first chapters in an affair that promises to extend over time. The political and financial implications could be far-reaching, both for Didier Reynders and for Belgium’s image in the fight against money laundering.