Victims of fraud
What you decide in the first days settles whether your evidence survives. You have found something. An invoice with nothing behind it, or a supplier nobody recognises. We set out what is allowed after fraud in your company, what a corporate fraud investigation in Belgium may lawfully do, and the routes for recovering the loss.
What the first days decide
The first days settle the value of your evidence. Article 32 of the preliminary title of the Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure lets a criminal court admit evidence gathered irregularly. Three exceptions stop it. The first is a formality prescribed on pain of nullity. The second is an irregularity that has affected the reliability of the evidence, the third a use that breaches the right to a fair trial.
That first exception is the one that costs companies most. The Act of 18 May 2024 regulating private investigation prescribes ten of its articles on pain of nullity. Work that breaches one of those ten produces material the court has to exclude. They include the licence of the agency you engage, and the internal rules that make workplace enquiries possible.
Money moves while you decide. Our specialists therefore map the assets of the possible wrongdoers from the outset. An attachment can then be laid before those people learn that anything is under way. Since 1 January 2025 you can also sue the director or the subcontractor of your contracting party directly in tort. We wrote about that in Book 6 of the Civil Code.
We work closely with forensic auditors. Stijn De Meulenaer is himself a Registered Fraud Auditor.
What you can come to us for
Enquiry support
We assist you while your company investigates privately, and once the public prosecutor or the investigating judge takes over. We make sure your civil party claim is filed in time.
Guidance on private investigations
We steer the work inside your organisation, with external forensic auditors where that helps.
Fraud audit
We establish with you what is legally possible. You then decide the next step on a legally grounded report.
Anti-fraud audit
A review of the weak points in your internal controls, with an audit report and concrete recommendations.
Damage recovery
We map the assets of the possible wrongdoers and attach what can be attached, with the attachment judge’s leave where that is needed.
Putting matters right
Dismissal, replacement of directors, protective measures and, where it is possible and wise, a settlement agreement.
Assistance before the criminal court
We defend your civil interests as an injured party, before the council chamber and before the criminal court.
What a corporate fraud investigation in Belgium must respect
Check first whether a set of internal rules allows enquiries at the workplace. Article 65 of the Act of 18 May 2024 attaches a condition to that. The authorisation and the detailed rules for such enquiries must be set out expressly and transparently in internal rules. Article 101 prescribes that article on pain of nullity. Article 180 gave the principal two years from the entry into force of the Act on 16 December 2024 to put that in order.
Ask next for the licence of any external agency you engage. Article 8 of the same Act forbids anyone to use the services of an unlicensed firm, and it too is prescribed on pain of nullity. Your own personnel department sits differently. Its members who carry out incident enquiries against employees of their own employer need neither a licence nor an identification card. The remaining rules of the Act still bind them.
Collective labour agreement no. 81 allows the monitoring of electronic online communication data for four purposes only. They include the prevention of unlawful acts and the protection of the confidential economic, commercial and financial interests of the company. The employer describes that purpose clearly and explicitly, and informs the works council and the employees concerned in advance. For cameras, collective labour agreement no. 68 allows monitoring aimed at the work of the employee only on a temporary basis. We wrote about that in Cameras against theft.
Record the file before you start. Article 30 of the GDPR requires a record of processing activities. The exemption for organisations with fewer than 250 people falls away as soon as the processing is not occasional. Article 10 of the Act of 30 July 2018 lets you process data on criminal offences for your own disputes. The same provision requires a list of who has access to the file, and a duty of confidentiality.
The file will not stay secret. The principal states within thirty days of the final report whether it acts on that report. If it does, the assignment holder informs the person concerned without delay and in writing. Article 102 also places a reporting duty on the private investigator towards the public prosecutor, which applies only where the facts are clear. The other audiences of the firm are set out on Who we act for.
Frequently asked questions
Can we run the enquiry in house?
Your own personnel department may carry out incident enquiries against your own employees, without a licence and without an identification card. Article 43 of the Act of 18 May 2024 makes that exception expressly. The other rules of the Act still apply, including the duty to report to the public prosecutor. The Act does not say where a structurally organised department stops being a personnel department. Have that line assessed before you begin.
May we read an employee’s mailbox?
Only within the four purposes of collective labour agreement no. 81, and in two steps. Collection starts at aggregate level. Linking the data to a named employee is immediate for the first three purposes. Where the purpose is compliance with your own IT rules, an information phase comes first, followed by a conversation. The Belgian Data Protection Authority does not accept the employee’s consent as a legal basis, because of the relationship of subordination.
Do we have to keep a record for a fraud investigation?
Article 30 of the GDPR requires a record of processing activities. The exemption for organisations with fewer than 250 people falls away as soon as the processing is not occasional. Article 10 of the Act of 30 July 2018 lets you process data on criminal offences for your own disputes. The same provision requires a list of who has access to the file, and a duty of confidentiality.
Can we attach assets before the wrongdoer notices?
Often you can, and the quickest route is protective attachment in the hands of a third party. A bailiff can lay it 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. That leave assumes urgency and a claim that is certain and due. The petition is ruled on within eight days of filing, and the attachment lasts three years.
What does Book 6 of the Civil Code change for our claim?
Book 6 lets you sue your contracting party’s auxiliary directly in tort. Article 6.3, paragraph 2, ends the quasi-immunity of the auxiliary. The employee, the director or the subcontractor of your counterparty therefore comes into range. That auxiliary may still raise the same defences as its principal, unless the wrong was committed with the intent to cause harm. Book 6 applies only to facts that occurred after 1 January 2025.
What happens to our loss in a criminal settlement?
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. The judge who confirms the agreement checks whether the victim and the tax or social security authority have been compensated. You keep the right to pursue your claim before the civil court. If the wrongdoer pays the sum of money, that payment counts there as an irrebuttable presumption of fault.