Prince Laurent accused of Fraud


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Status
Not open for further replies.
mandyy

mandyy

Heir Presumptive
Joined
Oct 4, 2004
Messages
2,615
Country
Canada
Belgian prince fingered in fraud probe: press

Belgium's Prince Laurent, youngest son of King Albert II, benefitted from a fraud set up by the Belgian navy to the tune of 175,000 euros (233,000 dollars), press reports said, citing a former aide.
The allegations came from Captain Noel Vaessen, who is being investigated with some 15 other naval officers and civilian industry chiefs for alelgedly defrauding the navy of some two million euros, the reports said.
A trial is to open next month in the northeastern town of Hasselt, and Vaessen's lawyer told the daily Le Soir he planned to call the 43-year-old prince as a witness..........
http://servihoo.com/Aujourdhui/kinews/afp_details.php?id=144610&CategoryID=74
 
wow how on the planet could an unemployed prince fraud the Navy? I'm puzzled.
 
No comment because no accusation, What can happens on a will to destabilize the Belgium Monarchy by sully one of its members.

Today more than the custom: wait and see!
 
Article in English about Laurent and the military fraud business:
No special treatment for prince
Tue 12/12/06 - The Federal Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (Flemish liberal) has said that the King of the Belgians' youngest son Prince Laurent should not escape prosecution; if it is proved that he received money from the Belgian armed services illegally.
(picture VRT) Villa in TervurenRecent press reports stated that the 43-year-old prince received money from the Belgian Navy to help him pay for his large house in the Flemish Brabant village of Tervuren.
The rest can be found here...
http://www.vrtnieuws.net/nieuwsnet_master/versie2/english/details/061212_laurent/index.shtml
 
Video about Prince Laurent.
http://www.vtm.be/nieuws/index_bekijkonline.htm
Scroll down the right side of the page, look under title: REPORTAGES.
It should be the first video link under Reportages van Dinstag 12/12.
The video is either in dutch or french (not quite familiar with both of the languages, just my guess).
 
Saw it on Euronews. It does appear that Prince Laurent is a guilty puppy.
 
He's just everybody's favorite target, isn't he? I don't recall any other Belgian royal that has been openly looked, criticized, or scrutinized more than Laurent. Either he's really as bad as the press makes him out to be or he's just the favorite scapegoat. It's quite sad, actually.
 
Aren't the Belgian Royals rich? I mean, all the money form the Kongo....It must still be around somewhere.... So why should he need it? Even in Tervuren (though a very noble area to live) a villa is not sooo expensive, especially compared to other parts of Brussels or London.
 
Well, he claims that he can't afford food at the end of the week - despite being on 300,000 Euros a year. Which is quite strange.
 
BeatrixFan said:
Well, he claims that he can't afford food at the end of the week - despite being on 300,000 Euros a year. Which is quite strange.
Click to expand...

Okay, Brussels is not cheap. But my husband several times a year has EU business there and goes shopping for me (chocolate, cheese, beer, delicatessen). Well, with 300.000 EUR you could live a wonderful life in Munich and Munich is by far more expensive than Brussels!
 
It's certainly a very odd claim for him to make. I do agree that Prince Laurent is made a bit of a target, maybe because he isn't a photogenic Prince they can do a fairytale story with, but in this case he does seem to be in hot water.
 
BeatrixFan said:
It's certainly a very odd claim for him to make. I do agree that Prince Laurent is made a bit of a target, maybe because he isn't a photogenic Prince they can do a fairytale story with, but in this case he does seem to be in hot water.
Click to expand...

I just read in an article of the Internationa Herald Tribune at http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/12/europe/EU_GEN_Belgium_Royals.php

However, Verhofstadt made clear in a statement that "the prince does not enjoy immunity" under Belgian law. "That exists only for the king, not for the members of the royal family."

Hm, that doesn't sound good, if you ask me...
 
Thats true. I saw an interview on Euronews with the Minister for Finance and he said that Laurent will be presumed innocent until proven guilty like any other Belgian but he said that Laurent is a subject of his father just like any one else and will be treated just like any one else accused as he's been accused.
 
BeatrixFan said:
Thats true. I saw an interview on Euronews with the Minister for Finance and he said that Laurent will be presumed innocent until proven guilty like any other Belgian but he said that Laurent is a subject of his father just like any one else and will be treated just like any one else accused as he's been accused.
Click to expand...

Somehow it reminds me that Her Majesty the queen of the Belgians has been a princess of Calabria.... Doesn't Calabria have a very old tradition of things like that? (OKay, it's not fair to blame the sometimes rather wild ancestry for the potential doings of their successor...;))
 
Actually I just read on Belgian teletext that several people have stood up to defend Laurent, the person who accused him is still alone in this.
 
How wierd. Thanks Marengo. The thing that will remain if he is declared innocent is why he stated that he can't afford to eat on 300,000 Euros a year. There must be some massive budget problems.
 
BeatrixFan said:
Thats true. I saw an interview on Euronews with the Minister for Finance and he said that Laurent will be presumed innocent until proven guilty like any other Belgian but he said that Laurent is a subject of his father just like any one else and will be treated just like any one else accused as he's been accused.
Click to expand...

Here's that article from Euronews.

Belgian Prince caught up in fraud scandal

from the article:
"There is no legal immunity for a prince but he will be presumed innocent until proven guilty, just like anyone else," said Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders. "Once all the details are made clear after a judicial decision is made, of course we will take steps to get the money back if needs be."
 
Just read a funny, odd article. His brother and sister thought that Laurent was possessed by the devil...
The rumours mount
Wed 13/12/06 - The daily 'Het Laatste Nieuws' has published more revelations by the former military adviser to Prince Laurent, Colonel Noël Vaessen. Colonel Vaessen claims that the King's youngest son compiled a dossier about his illegitimate half-sister, the artist Delphine Boël.
He also claims that the other members of the Belgian Royal Family believed that the Prince was possessed by the devil and even called in an exorcist.
The Prince's interest in Ms Boël was founded on his desire to embarrass his father, the King of the Belgians, Albert II...
The rest can be found here...
http://www.vrtnieuws.net/nieuwsnet_master/versie2/english/details/061213_laurentscandal/index.shtml
 
Last edited:
Wasn't this sort of discussed during the wedding ceremony by father Gilbert? He mentioned the strained relationship between Laurent and his parents and how they came closer to each other again (I recall something that the son was waiting outside, his father would put a whilte bow around a tree if he could come in. The son was anxious but then he noticed that every tree in the park had a white bow).
I believe that Laurent and Queen paola actually became emotional during this part of the sermon.
 
I agree with Alisa, it seems very strange that Laurent would not know where the extra money to fix his property & pay his other bills came from, or that he didn't ask where it came from if he found out about it.

However, innocent until proven guilty!
 
I fear the situation of Laurent is worsening. I read in a dutch newspaper today that more people say the prince knew about the fraud. Some claimed that they discussed the renovations (400.000 euros) at the princes diningroom while they ate pasta (on 3 different occassions).

The King already stated in his christmas speech that nobody stands above the law, a remark that prime minister Verhofstad made to.

I am now watching the programme 'Ter Zake' on the flemish television and the programme is also saying that the situation of the prince is getting worse. A environmental organisation in which Laurent is involved ios checked to see if the Prince used funds for personal things to, whioch most probably is not the case.
 
That doesn't sound good at all. I truly hope that he's innocent of all the accusations and that it will all be cleared up quickly.Thanks for sharing Marengo.
 
This is not good at all. I am only just reading about this now. Is it for definate that Laurent is involved. Does he face jail time and if so ho much? I wonder if the marriage will withstand the test i hope so for the sake of their young children
 
Marengo said:
I fear the situation of Laurent is worsening. I read in a dutch newspaper today that more people say the prince knew about the fraud. Some claimed that they discussed the renovations (400.000 euros) at the princes diningroom while they ate pasta (on 3 different occassions).

The King already stated in his christmas speech that nobody stands above the law, a remark that prime minister Verhofstad made to.

I am now watching the programme 'Ter Zake' on the flemish television and the programme is also saying that the situation of the prince is getting worse. A environmental organisation in which Laurent is involved ios checked to see if the Prince used funds for personal things to, whioch most probably is not the case.
Click to expand...
I'll tell you all one thing and that is, I will choose to believe in Laurent's innocence until proven guilty.

here's why. I have always rooted for this particular prince, because he is one of the few royals who have made it their mission to come to the defense of the most defenseless creatures on our human-dominated planet: animals.

Perhaps his efforts to defend the rights of animals stems from him having been so misunderstood for the best part of his life. This is why I have always had a soft spot for this prince.

Although I have to say that there's always been a certain, je ne sais quois quality about him, something dubious, that I could just never put my finger on. Maybe this is it, that he is on the one hand a morally correct person when it comes to one aspect, animal rights, but 'morally flexible', shall we say, on the other hand. Kind of a la Dutch prince Bernhard, who was one of the founders of the World Wildlife Fund but at the same time accepted bribes from the business world and sired off spring outside of his marriage.

Sorry for the long message, bt I hope very strongly that somehow Laurent is innocent.
 
King Albert II signed a royal decree a couple of days ago, which enables Laurent to be heard as a witness at court in this case.

And Olga: I have a soft spot for the Prince to, he has had a difficult time, both with the rediculisation of his charities and within the family to. I strongly hope this will all turn out for the best.
 
It's a process about fraud in de Belgian Marine. There are 3 men accused. One of them is a former advisor of the prince, and another is a old schoolmate who had a high position in the marine.
Now the advisor wants Laurent as a WITNESS (because his advisor says that Laurent had knowledge of the fraud). There is no question wether Laurent is guilty or not.
Of course this damages the image of the whole royal family...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom