The head of Avrox, a medical supply company based in Luxembourg, has once again been arrested by police in France regarding his involvement in the scam regarding a government contract for the supply of 15 million face masks for the public.
Laurent Hericord, who was at the heart of a €21 million contract for face masks, was questioned by the police and investigating judge again this week, after which he was once again arrested. Hericord will appear in court on Monday, according to Le Soir.
He is under suspicion of irregularities after the company gained a contract from the federal government for the supply of 15 million face-masks to be handed out to the public in the early days of the pandemic.
Questionable from the start
The deal was strewn with issues from the outset. Firstly, the company was fined for delays in the deliveries of the masks. Pharmacies then distributed the masks to the population, but this was later halted when suspicions arose about them being toxic due to the possible presence of silver nanoparticles, that when inhaled could damage the respiratory tract.
At the end of last year, an investigation into the purchase contract concluded that the government was swindled, and the prosecution announced that four people were suspected of forgery, fraud and money laundering.
The Brussels public prosecutor's office, which at the time opened an investigation into allegations that Avrox had won the sizeable contract despite having no experience in the relevant field, did not want to comment on the latest update in the case.
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However, Laurent Kennes, Hericord's lawyer, confirmed the arrest to Le Soir, adding that his client "does not understand why it is necessary to place him in pre-trial detention while he was still free during his full interrogation by the police."
"The measures in this case are disproportionate," he said. "My client reiterates that the Belgian State has not been swindled out of €32 million. The masks were delivered and the payments were made on the basis of the deliveries." Hericord and his lawyer strongly deny money laundering.
The decision led to complaints from competing companies who felt they had been unfairly excluded from the tender process. The Brussels prosecutor’s office
