No legal action will be taken concerning the former financial arrangements at VRT, despite eight house searches and a damning audit report, according to the Brussels prosecutor’s office after years of investigation into inflated invoices and contested contracts, as reported by De Tijd on Saturday.
On Wednesday, 22 June 2022, investigators from the Central Service for Combating Corruption conducted a search at the VRT’s premises on Reyerslaan. On the same day, searches were carried out at seven other locations as part of the judicial inquiry into financial arrangements at the public broadcaster, highlighted in an Audit Vlaanderen report. The prosecution had already opened a case based on this report at the end of 2020.
The judicial investigation is now complete. On Friday, the Brussels prosecutor presented the criminal case to the council chamber in a closed-door session. No additional parties, including the VRT, were summoned, as the investigating judge did not charge anyone during the investigation, and the VRT did not join the case as a civil party.
The Brussels prosecutor’s office confirmed to De Tijd that “the Public Prosecutor’s Office drafted an indictment, concluding that no criminal acts have been committed and thus no one needs to be prosecuted.” The only comment provided by the prosecutor is that “the Brussels council chamber immediately issued a decision in the case, aligning with the prosecutor’s findings.”
