A criminal court in Leuven today convicted four defendants in an online phishing and fraud case after they stole more than €17,000 from Princess Claire's and Prince Laurent's accounts in late 2021.
Two defendants received 12-month suspended prison sentences, and one received a six-month suspended prison sentence. The court suspended the fourth defendant’s sentence for three years.
In sentencing, the court considered the convicted defendants’ precarious financial circumstances, as well as the lack of previous convictions for all but one of them as a mitigating factor.
For two of the defendants, the court also considered their relatively young age. In total, the court confiscated €10,765.75.
The case centres on a text message Princess Claire received on 23 December 2021, apparently from Card Stop, saying her bank card had to be blocked.
Because she had lost her bank card a few days earlier, the message appeared credible. She clicked the link and was taken to a fake website, where she completed several identification steps.
When she became suspicious, she closed the site. But on 4 January 2022, the princess could no longer use her bank cards to make transactions. After contacting her bank, she discovered she had fallen victim to cyber fraud.
Investigators found that the criminals had taken more than €17,000 from accounts belonging to Princess Claire and Prince Laurent, including their personal account and three other accounts for which Princess Claire held power of attorney.
According to the investigation, the money was transferred to several Belgian bank accounts between 1 and 4 January 2022. The stolen money was then spent in a nightclub and a Fnac in Marbella, Spain.
Telephone records led investigators to conclude that the phishing message was sent using a number linked to defendant J.Y.
At a hearing in April, J.Y. broke down in tears and denied any involvement in the scam. The court heard that the perpetrators used several methods to hide their identities, including false names, altered or diverted IP addresses, anonymous phone numbers, and the misuse of other people’s personal data.
The prosecutor accepted that phishing often uses stolen phone numbers belonging to people with no connection to the crime. In this case, he said, there was no other evidence linking J.Y. to the fraud, and she was the only defendant acquitted.
At Monday’s hearing, J.Y. was not present and was represented by defence lawyer Walter Damen.
“This has had a severe impact on my client,” Damen said. “She did not sleep for six months. She also did not really dare come to court today. I do not understand why she was prosecuted at all. The phone number was in her name, but not even registered at her address. There should have been more investigation before the summons was issued.”
