The National Lottery has expressed dismay at "unjustified attacks on its reputation" following allegations that Belgian political heavyweight Didier Reynders was laundering money via lottery tickets.
Police raided Reynders' properties on suspicion of money laundering and fraud last Tuesday, just three days after his term as EU Commissioner for Justice ended.
He had been purchasing large quantities of lottery "e-tickets" involving a "relatively significant" amount of money, according to The Financial Information Processing Unit. The unit had noted suspicious transactions over a long period of time.
Hours-long questioning of Reynders last week prompted the Federal Parliament to question the National Lottery's control mechanisms. The Board of Directors met to discuss the allegations on Tuesday.
EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders arrives for a College meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on 30 October 2024. Credit: Belga / AFP
They have since stated that the controls were effective. In a press release accompanied by a 12-page report, the National Lottery says it had fulfilled its legal obligations by reporting abnormal gaming behaviour to the authorities in 2022.
The National Lottery had already noted that one sales point had sold a suspiciously high number of e-vouchers in 2021. An investigation found most of these tickets were linked to two player accounts belonging to someone with a "politically sensitive identity."
The consultancy KPMG was then commissioned to evaluate the problem and filed a report to the Federal Public Prosecutor in March 2022.
'Extremely exceptional'
The National Lottery claims it fully cooperated with the investigation. However, it was unable to block transactions, close player accounts or halt the sale of e-vouchers at sales points, as this could have hampered the judicial inquiry.
Separately from the Reynders case, the National Lottery highlighted stringent rules on its products that make money laundering more difficult. Players must verify their identity through their national registry number or via Itsme when opening an online account. There is a weekly limit of €500, and winnings that exceed this sum must be transferred to a bank account.
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The Lottery describes the Reynders case as "extremely exceptional." The former EU Commissioner stayed within gaming limits but raised suspicion because of the prolonged nature of his activity.
"No player has ever accumulated different gaming limits in this manner. It concerns two player accounts out of a total of two million accounts opened with the National Lottery."
Reynders has so far declined to comment on the matter but contested the criminal allegations last week. He has not yet been officially charged.
Bouchez: 'This does not concern me'
Leader of Reynders' liberal Mouvement Réformateur (MR) party Georges-Louis Bouchez has stated that he has no connection to the scandal.
"As MR leader, it does not concern me," he told RTBF on Tuesday. "Reynders no longer exercises a mandate for the party."
He added that he was personally upset by the situation, "but justice must do its job. It is the same for everyone."
Bouchez worked as Reynders' advisor when he was a minister in both 2009 and 2011.
