The Brussels Criminal Court on Wednesday postponed judgement in a case involving a businessman accused of siphoning off significant sums of money from DHL.
The court's decision was due to technical difficulties: it had trouble accessing a USB containing evidence submitted by the defence team.
The defendant, a former financial director at DHL, allegedly embezzled over €1 million by using the company’s credit card for personal expenses. He claims he did not take more than €600,000.
Owing to his high-ranking post, the man, originally from Opwijk, possessed a company credit card which he could use for business purchases. He stands accused of using this card for his private spending for three years.
He reportedly used the money to fund luxury holidays to Dubai and Singapore, a €30,000 birthday party, and purchases from Amazon and Apple totalling around €300,000, according to prosecutors.
The prosecution requested an 18-month suspended sentence, while the defence argued for a suspended judgement. It maintained that the financial fraud was far less than DHL estimated.
“My client was solely responsible for auditing ten worldwide DHL branches, where 2,000 people were employed,” his lawyer argued. “He was expected to single-handedly scrutinise the monthly expense reports of these 2,000 workers, often sacrificing his weekends and holidays to do so.
"Despite repeated requests, he received no assistance, and he continued working despite suffering from burn-out. Finally, he said ‘enough!’ and started treating himself,” the defence argued
