Former Belgian Minister and mayor of Roeselaere, Luc Martens (CD&V), has been arrested. He violated his conditions in a case involving fraud, abuse of trust, forgery, money laundering offences and use of false documents.
Martens was discredited in September 2023 after it emerged that he had borrowed large sums of money from numerous businessmen friends that he could not repay. Several aggrieved parties went to court, and the former mayor was ordered to repay several times.
According to Martens, he got into financial trouble after being scammed by a gang dealing in bitcoins.
The former minister was also under criminal investigation for fraud, abuse of trust, forgery, money laundering offences and use of false documents, the West Flanders' Public Prosecutor's Office announced.
He was arraigned before the investigating judge on 4 June last year and was then released on conditions, including not committing criminal offences, being required to undergo psychological counselling and being counseled for his financial problems.
On 28 February, he was arraigned again for violating his conditions. The investigating judge decided to detain him. Martens is due to appear before the judge on Tuesday, which will decide on his arrest.
