The Brussels Public Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed that a Brussels antique dealer’s premises were raided over suspected money laundering in connection to former European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.
Investigative journalist platform nationale4.be first reported the news of the searches on July 14, which were confirmed by the public prosecutor’s office.
In June, the federal police searched the home and shop of the antique dealer.
A suspect, considered for many years to be Reynders’ right-hand man, reportedly purchased art and antiques from there on an almost daily basis for years on end.
A spokesperson for the Brussels prosecutor confirmed to Brussels Signal two searches of the dealer’s premises took place in June and that they were connected to the Reynders case.
No further information was given due to the confidentiality of the investigation.
According to nationale4.be, the antique dealer “has been a man in a hurry” since the Reynders case was launched.
He reportedly sold his parental house, for an estimated price of around €2 million and was said have sold a collection of objects, antiques and works online.
“Some lots were sold at more than ten times their value,” according to nationale4, which quoted insiders saying: “He panicked”, “he was scared” and “he tried to anticipate possible legal problems”.
Reynders’ right-hand man reportedly had business cards describing him as an “art expert”, despite public mandates and his functions in the cabinets of then-minister Reynders.
One former unnamed chauffeur of Reynders was quoted as saying that Reynder’s guy “often went down … with a lot of money in the back right pocket of his trousers. On several occasions, he asked for a lot of objects to be loaded. Furniture, clocks, in particular.
“He stored it in one of his farm-castles … where we went to pick it up and bring it back every working day and even some weekends.”
Reynders has never been convicted and is presumed innocent.
When he ended his term as European Commissioner under EC President Ursula von der Leyen, he lost the immunity that came with the post.
He was put under investigation by Belgian authorities on suspicion of allegedly having bought lottery tickets to launder profits back into his account.
Didier Reynders, the former European Commissioner of Justice, is the subject of more allegations of money laundering. https://t.co/JxOMNkwOte
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 16, 2024
