Damage recovery after fraud

From the start of your case, our specialists analyse the options for recovering the loss you have suffered. We check whether it is possible to recover assets, and we map out the financial situation of the possible wrongdoers as quickly as possible. That way, in consultation with you, we can quickly decide to attach the bank accounts or other movable or immovable property of the possible wrongdoers.

Protective attachment in the hands of a third party can be laid by a bailiff, on the basis of authentic or private deeds, with no prior court order. In the other cases you ask the attachment judge for leave by petition, on the basis of a claim that is certain and due. That petition is ruled on within eight days of filing, and the attachment lasts three years, renewable if you show grounds to maintain it.

Once we have secured as much as possible, we consider which strategy offers the best chance of actual recovery: the civil route, the criminal route, or both. We also always assess whether it is possible and desirable to reach a settlement with the wrongdoer. Our experience shows that many fraudsters are willing to do so, which is often a more efficient way to avoid protracted proceedings.

Since 1 January 2025 you can also sue the director, the employee or the subcontractor of your contracting party directly in tort. Article 6.3, paragraph 2, of the Civil Code ends the quasi-immunity of that auxiliary, who may still raise the same defences as its principal. We wrote about that in Book 6 of the Civil Code. Book 6 only applies to facts that occurred after that date.

Those defences fall away for a wrong committed with the intent to cause harm, which is usually the case with fraud. An employee is in any case only liable to you and to third parties for deceit and gross negligence, so a wrongdoer who commits fraud cannot rely on that protection. The wrongdoer’s employer is also strictly liable for the damage caused to third parties while its staff member acts in that role, giving you an extra party to pursue.

If you join the case as a civil party, you can follow the criminal file until the close of the hearings. We once assisted a Belgian SME trading goods internationally that had noticed part of its returnable packaging disappearing: after a protective attachment authorised by the attachment judge, we reached a settlement with the employee involved and an external firm, under which more than 150,000 euro of loss was fully repaid in monthly instalments within just over a year. For the further criminal steps we work with our assistance before the criminal court, Besides damage recovery, we also look at the options for putting the fraud right within your company, as part of our wider support for victims of fraud.

Often you can, and the quickest route is protective attachment in the hands of a third party. That attachment can be laid by a bailiff, on the basis of authentic or private deeds, with no prior court order. In the other cases you ask the attachment judge for leave by petition, dealt with within eight days. The attachment lasts three years and is renewable as long as you show grounds for it.

Since 1 January 2025 that is possible, thanks to Book 6 of the Civil Code. Article 6.3, paragraph 2, ends the quasi-immunity of the auxiliary, who may still raise the same defences as its principal. Those defences fall away for a wrong committed with the intent to cause harm. Book 6 only applies to facts that occurred after 1 January 2025.

Your loss must be fully compensated before the public prosecutor may propose a criminal settlement. By way of exception a written acknowledgement of civil liability suffices, with proof of payment of the uncontested part. You keep the right to pursue your claim before the civil court in any case. If the wrongdoer pays the sum of money, that payment counts there as an irrebuttable presumption of fault.