In September, the public prosecutor’s office had requested the referral to the criminal court of 56 suspects. There are now 55 suspects, former Lokeren chairman Roger Lambrecht died in February. They are suspected of forgery, money laundering, match fixing and membership of a criminal organization.
In the meantime, the federal prosecutor’s office has not been idle and gave the series of suspects the opportunity to let their portfolios speak through an amicable settlement. This means that they plead guilty and pay a fine, which means they will not have to appear before the criminal court and avoid a criminal conviction. However, those involved must also compensate the injured parties. In concrete terms, this means that they have to pay taxes that the tax authorities missed out on due to the falsified contracts.
At least ten suspects have accepted the amicable settlement. These are chairman Bart Verhaeghe and manager Vincent Mannaert of Club Brugge, manager Michel Louwagie of AA Gent, manager Matthias Leterme of KV Kortrijk, former board members Herbert Houben, Patrick Janssens, Herman Nijs and Filip Aerden of Racing Genk, former board member Paul Van der Schueren of OH Leuven and Erwin Lemmens, goalkeeper coach at the Belgian Football Association.
The Antwerp Chamber of Indictment has assessed and ratified the proposed amicable settlements as legal this morning. After payment of the fine within the stipulated period, the criminal proceedings against the suspects lapse.
