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Belgian authorities charge ex-EU commissioner with money laundering — newspaper

Didier Reynders’ lawyers declined to comment, citing the presumption of innocence and the secrecy of the investigation

BRUSSELS, November 5. /TASS/. A court in Belgium has charged former European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, who was tasked with overseeing efforts to freeze Russia’s state assets, with money laundering, Le Soir newspaper writes.

The charges of money laundering and other offenses were brought against Reynders following an October 16 questioning. Meanwhile, his wife Bernadette Prignon, honorary magistrate of the Liege Court of Appeal, has not been charged, even though an investigation against her is also underway. Reynders’ lawyers declined to comment, citing the presumption of innocence and the secrecy of the investigation.

According to Le Soir, the charges brought against the former European commissioner could mean that investigators aren’t satisfied with what he said about the origin of the funds in question and seek to complete the case as soon as possible.

In December 2024, Belgian police searched Reynders’ apartments in Brussels and Liege; he and his wife were questioned. Le Soir reported that the probe concerned around one million euros in cash payments: the ex-commissioner is believed to have deposited 800,000 euros on his account, and laundered the remaining 200,000 euros using National Lottery tickets. It is the National Lottery transactions that became the starting point for the investigation into suspected money-laundering. Neither the police nor the media have so far provided information about where the one million euros in cash came from.

Reynders served as European commissioner during Ursula von der Leyen’s first term as European Commission president, which expired on December 1, 2024.

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