An investigation has been opened into a Federal Road Police commissioner in East Flanders who is suspected of having embezzled €30,000 from various traffic fines, Het Laatste Nieuws reports.
The East Flanders Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed on Sunday evening that an investigation into the traffic police commissioner, who is still active in the Flemish municipality of Wetteren.
The man had first come under suspicion at the beginning of 2021 after an internal audit showed up budgeting inconsistencies. The matter was then referred to the courts.
In total, the commissioner is believed to have embezzled €30,000 worth of traffic fines from foreign truck drivers, who often pay their fines in cash.
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Normally, an officer takes this money and places it in a safe at the police station, to which only two people have access, one of which was the commissioner.
Suspicions quickly turned to the commissioner, who decided to leave his post voluntarily and thereby avoid being fired.
Only now has the Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation, which has caused resentment among the commissioner's former colleagues, who feel that such an offence should not have gone unpunished for so long.
