The curator of the freezing of Russian assets in the European Union has been charged with money laundering

Former European Commissioner Didier Reynders, who oversaw the freezing and expropriation of assets of the Central Bank of Russia, has been charged with money laundering. This was reported by the newspaper Le Soir.

"Belgian Didier Reynders, who oversaw the freezing of Russian assets worth billions of euros in the European Commission, was officially charged with money laundering. On October 16, the judge did not believe his version about the "sale of paintings" and lottery winnings: for 10 years, the ex-European commissioner deposited 700 thousand euros in cash to the bank and another 200 thousand scrolled through the lottery," the newspaper writes.

Reynders was questioned on October 16, after which a Belgian court charged him with money laundering, as well as a number of other offenses. At the same time, Reynders' wife Bernadette Prinyon, who holds the post of honorary judge of the Court of Appeal in Liege and is also being investigated, has not yet been involved as an accused. Reynders' lawyers declined to comment, citing the presumption of innocence and the secrecy of the investigation. The Brussels prosecutor's office also refused to comment on the situation.

According to Le Soir, the indictment of the ex-European commissioner may mean that the investigation is not satisfied with his testimony about the origin of the funds and seeks to complete the case as soon as possible.

The Reynders case has been dragging on since 2023: searches, interrogations, and now he faces up to 5 years in prison.

In December 2024, the Belgian police raided Reynders' apartments in Brussels and Liege, as a result of which he and his wife were questioned, but the police did not take them into custody. Later it became known the amount that the former European commissioner received with the help of alleged fraud. As Le Soir wrote, we are talking about € 1 million in cash. It is assumed that 800 thousand of them were deposited by the ex-European commissioner to his bank account in small batches, and another 200 thousand to his electronic account of the National Lottery player, from where he then withdrew 60% of the funds to the bank account as winnings. It was transactions through the National Lottery that became the starting point in the investigation of alleged money laundering. The police and the media have not yet given any versions of where the ex-European commissioner received € 1 million in cash.

Reynders held the position of European Commissioner during the first term of the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, which expired on December 1, 2024.