Corporate fraud investigation and audit
The Act of 18 May 2024 regulating private investigation has governed the field since 16 December 2024. Something in your company does not add up. A supplier nobody recognises, or a cash position that never reconciles. Before you decide anything, you want to establish the facts. We set out what the law in Belgium allows, who may carry out the work, and what happens to the report once it is delivered.
When your enquiry falls under the private investigation Act
A suspicion is not yet a case. You first want to know what actually happened, because everything after that depends on it. Whether your own people do the work or you bring in an external auditor, the legal limits apply from day one.
Article 181 of that Act repealed the Act of 19 July 1991 on the profession of private detective. Article 3 sets four cumulative conditions.
The first requires the person who does the work to be a natural person, the second an assignment from a principal. The third is the gathering of information about persons or about the circumstances of the events. The fourth is a purpose connected to an actual or possible conflict. If one of those conditions is not met, the Act does not apply.
The Act binds you as principal as much as it binds the person doing the work. Article 8 forbids anyone from using the services of an unlicensed provider. Article 101, fourth paragraph, makes a breach of ten articles of the Act a ground of nullity, and article 8 is one of them. Findings obtained in breach of those ten rules lose their evidential value in court.
Our specialists have practised in this field for years and collaborate with internal and external auditors. Stijn De Meulenaer is himself a recognised Registered Fraud Auditor.
Where we can help you
Fraud audit
We work out with you what is legally possible and we oversee the work. A legally sound report lets you decide on the next steps.
Private investigation guidance
We oversee the enquiry inside your organisation and we keep it within the limits the Act sets.
Anti-fraud audit
We go through your organisation and check whether your prevention policy is adequate. Practical solutions follow where they are needed.
Legal origin audit
Your banker asks about the lawful origin of your funds. We help you avoid the end of the banking relationship and a report to the anti-money laundering unit.
Request for investigative acts
Where a criminal inquiry is under way, we propose further useful measures to the investigating judge or the public prosecutor.
Access to the criminal file
We ask for access to the criminal file, so that you know what the inquiry has established so far.
Assistance before the criminal court
We assist you before the investigating courts: the council chamber and the indictments chamber. We defend your civil interests there.
What you check before the investigation starts
Check first whether internal rules allow enquiries at the workplace. Article 65 sets a condition for any assignment aimed at an employee of the principal. The permission and the arrangements for private enquiries at the workplace must be set out expressly and transparently in those rules. Article 101 makes a breach of that article a ground of nullity. Article 180 gives the principal two years from the entry into force on 16 December 2024 to comply.
Ask next for the licence of any firm you engage. Your own personnel department falls under a separate regime. Its members conduct an incident enquiry into employees of their own employer. They need neither an identification card nor membership of a licensed service or undertaking. The remaining provisions of the Act still bind them.
Put in writing beforehand what you are looking for and why. Article 66 requires an assignment document with ten mandatory items. Among them are the precise and express description of the legitimate purposes and the undertaking not to use the results for any other purpose. Article 57 bars the gathering of information in nine categories, among them health data, trade union membership and suspicions that have not been made public. Article 96 prohibits the use of material obtained through an offence or by unlawful means.
Monitoring of electronic communication data follows collective agreement no. 81 of 26 April 2002. That agreement allows monitoring for four purposes only, among them the prevention of unlawful acts and the protection of confidential economic, commercial and financial interests. The employer describes the purpose clearly and expressly, then informs the works council and the employees concerned.
Camera surveillance follows collective agreement no. 68 of 16 June 1998. Camera surveillance that targets the work of the employee may only be temporary. We wrote about this earlier in Camera against theft.
The final report does not close the case: the principal states in writing, within thirty days, whether it acts on it. The assignment holder then informs the person concerned and every other identifiable person without delay. Where the facts are confirmed, we set out the route to rectification and to damage recovery. What we do for a director before anything goes wrong is set out on the page for company directors. You will find everything we cover under Practice areas.
Frequently asked questions
Can I run the enquiry inside my own company?
Your own personnel department may conduct an incident enquiry into your own staff, without an identification card and without belonging to a licensed service. Article 43, fourth and fifth paragraphs, of the Act of 18 May 2024 grants that exemption expressly. The remaining provisions of the Act still bind those staff members. Article 7 separately requires a licence from the minister responsible for Home Affairs once you set up an internal service of that kind. Have the set-up assessed before you start.
What is the difference between a fraud audit and a judicial inquiry?
The audit is your own enquiry, the judicial inquiry is run by the investigating judge. You define the assignment yourself, within the limits of the Act of 18 May 2024, and the report lets you decide on the next steps. In a judicial inquiry the investigating judge decides which measures are taken. There you can act as an injured person or bring a civil party claim. Our specialists assist you in both procedures.
Must I report a criminal offence to the public prosecutor myself?
That duty rests on the person conducting the enquiry and on the assignment holder, not on you as principal. Article 102 of the Act of 18 May 2024 requires them to inform the public prosecutor immediately and in writing. The duty covers facts that clearly amount to criminal offences. The duty applies only to clear facts and to indications they knew or ought to have known. It also applies where a criminal inquiry is already running.
Must I tell the employee that a report has been written?
Yes, as soon as you act on the final report. The principal states in writing, within thirty days of the final report, whether it acts on it. If it does not, it destroys the reports immediately. If it does, the assignment holder informs the person concerned and every other identifiable person without delay and in writing. Until those people have been able to exercise their rights, you may not use the information.
Does evidence from a private enquiry hold up in criminal court?
It holds up, unless it breaches one of the ten articles that the Act of 18 May 2024 lays down on pain of nullity. Article 32 of the preliminary title to the Code of Criminal Procedure allows a Belgian judge to accept irregularly obtained evidence. Three situations prevent that. The first is a breach of a formality prescribed on pain of nullity. The second is an irregularity affecting the reliability of the evidence, the third a use that breaches the right to a fair trial.
What must the assignment document contain?
Put in writing beforehand what you are looking for and why. Article 66 requires an assignment document with ten mandatory items. Among them are the precise and express description of the legitimate purposes and the undertaking not to use the results for any other purpose. Article 57 bars the gathering of information in nine categories, among them health data, trade union membership and suspicions that have not been made public.