2023-10-13 07:47:00
Last month, at the start of the school year, Alain Talloen wrote to the king’s prosecutor. The case had been dragging on since 2013. He couldn’t wait any longer. He had previously addressed the investigating judge: the judge had not even responded. He had contacted the ‘internal cell’ of the Brussels police: the approach had served no purpose. So, Alain Talloen took up his pen and wrote to the Brussels prosecutor.
Empty
Alain made a career with the Schaerbeek police. At 64, he is now retired. To tell the truth, it was not the former police officer who addressed the ‘trial’. But the individual, as a client of BNP Paribas Fortis.
On January 8, 2013, Alain Talloen, whom his grandmother (who had since died) accompanied, deposited 40,000 euros, in denominations of 500, in a safe rented from the Fortis agency on Avenue Houba de Strooper in Laeken. Ten months later, when he opened the safe again, the money was gone. The 40,000 euros had evaporated. Surprising detail: no signs of break-in were visible on the safe.
“Wave of trunk thefts”
Alain Talloen was not a judicial investigator for nothing. To his eyes, it quickly became clear that there were no thirty-six explanations. Someone, obviously “a professional with the skills”, had managed, in an unprecedented way, in the safe room, to open theirs, without the knowledge of the staff, without leaving any traces.
The same day, November 27, 2013, Alain Talloen filed a complaint with the Brussels police. But a question tormented him: what if he wasn’t alone? What if other customers had been victims, like him, of the same unexplained process? This is what he wanted to check. For this, he said, he was going to “stir up Brussels”.
In his research, Alain Talloen was able to count on DH and RTL-TVI. Journalist Caroline Fontenoy, in particular, devoted a news segment to the affair.
The edifying testimony of Bernard Defoy, victim of a head-on collision for which he is still paying: “My lawyers cost me 215,000 euros”
The list
Bingo: six clients of BNP Paribas Fortis Brussels agencies have reacted. They consider themselves in the same situation, and would have lost a total of 233,750 euros, and valuables, including jewelry, worth 350,000 euros. Among them, a dentist, a nurse and two restaurateurs. One of them would have been compensated, but only partially. He had deposited 85,000 euros and would have been compensated to the tune of 50,000 euros, so he is not giving up the case and hopes to recover the difference. The other five received nothing.
The alleged thefts allegedly took place between January 2006 and October 2014, in five BNP Paribas Fortis agencies in the Brussels region: avenue Houba de Strooper and rue François Vekemans in Laeken, boulevard De Smet de Naeyer in Jette, avenue Louise in Brussels (twice ), finally at the Fortis agency on Chaussée de Mons in Anderlecht.
Letter to the prosecutor
In progress since the end of 2013, the police investigation was closed two years ago. But the floor did not move. What was he waiting for? What was justice doing?
And so, on September 4, Alain Talloen, tired of waiting, wrote this to the ff king’s prosecutor in person. “Faced with the helplessness that I feel after having tried everything in vain, I would like to ask for your valuable assistance regarding the current case (since 2013), resulting from several complaints of theft from the safes of the BNP bank Paribas Fortis, without signs of break-in, with suspicion weighing on a locksmith. The case initiated almost ten years ago leaves me perplexed as to the need for such a long investigation. As a former criminal investigator, I don’t remember such a lengthy instruction. It is easy to understand the state in which certain victims find themselves, including states of depression, the bank having shown little consideration towards them. We would like to recover our damages on a civil level, hoping that this is still possible, in particular by accelerating the closure of the investigation.
Suspicious locksmith
Alain Talloen knocked on the right door. During the week, the prosecution brought out the file. And according to our information, a professional locksmith is summoned to appear next week before the Brussels council chamber. This will decide whether or not to refer him to the criminal court.
The person concerned denies. He is presumed innocent. Aged around sixty, he is described as “very experienced”. However, the investigative elements, if they justify the suspicions, seem thin and fragile. For its part, the prosecution will request the dismissal of the case in its favor, for insufficient charges.
The author of the hit-and-run has been identified but Hassan will have to pay for the repairs to his vehicle himself: “Is this justice?”
“Not responsible”
For almost ten years, six clients have been desperate to recover their stolen money.
The safe rental contract they signed is not in their favor. Indeed, the general rental conditions certainly provide for compensation in most cases, with the exception of “unexplained disappearances”.
Alain Talloen objects that the French Court of Cassation has ruled on multiple occasions that these contracts involve for the bank “a particular obligation of supervision and the duty to take all necessary measures to ensure the safeguarding of the safe and the objects it contains ”, but what about in Belgium?
According to Alain Talloen again, security seems to have been strengthened since then. Measures have reportedly been taken to prohibit unaccompanied locksmiths from entering the safe rooms.
BNP Paribas Fortis reacted
The Brussels headquarters of BNP Paribas Fortis was contacted, rue Montagne du Parc. Valéry Halloy, spokesperson, responded: “The bank is bound by a duty of discretion towards its customers and does not have the habit of commenting on ongoing cases. The bank also does not communicate on the security measures put in place in its safe areas, as well as on changes or reinforcements. For these reasons, BNP Paribas Fortis will say no more.
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