2023-09-20 19:00:00
A case in which, according to the public prosecutor, 250 vehicles were hijacked was raised again this Wednesday before the Namur criminal court. The various defendants must answer for forgery, use of forgery, embezzlement by an official, and taking of interest. More than 250 vehicles would be affected.
The facts occurred in 2016, before the creation of the Fin Shop, whose mission is to sell seized objects. According to substitute Debelle, the defendants, authors of “blatant lies”. should also have been prosecuted for criminal conspiracy. “They have put in place a crude mechanism allowing them to shamelessly enrich themselves to the detriment of the state. These officials were in charge of the seized vehicles. If they were wrecks, they had to be sold in batches to approved wreckers for destruction. Those which were not wrecks had to be the subject of public sales. These officials did not hold a competition or public sale, did not evaluate all the vehicles, in order to favor the interests of friends who were car sellers to whom they offered to help. Some cars were sold in wreck lots when they weren’t. Sellers came to collect dozens of vehicles even though they had not yet been paid.”
The substitute thus evokes a Range Rover whose new value exceeded €60,000, which had been estimated at €22,000 and was finally sold for €16,000. “The official concerned purchased a Renault Mégane in 2015 for €50 instead of €4,000, before making another acquisition for €6,000 instead of €11,000.”
Sentences of two years and 18 months in prison and fines of €2,000 and €1,000 are required against the two officials concerned. Two years in prison and a €10,000 fine are required against two car salesmen. Six months and a €1,000 fine are required against two defendants and a €1,000 fine is required against a company.
The defendants’ counsel highlighted the exceeding of the reasonable time limit in the case, denying the existence of any misappropriation. Acquittal is pleaded for the two officials concerned.
The lawyers of the various defendants regretted that their clients were the turkeys of the farce of a system akin to “a complete mess”. Although theoretical procedures existed, in practice things were different. Certain seized vehicles, the most luxurious, attracted the desire of certain repairers, “or even police officers”. It was not uncommon to see cars simply disappear from inventories. Which would have merited more investigations on the part of the public prosecutor, believe the litigants, who mention “a system that suited everyone and to which we turned a blind eye”. And finally, “a bad trial”.
Judgment on October 18.
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