All charges in the investigation into Fortis’s demise, almost twelve years ago, are barred. This brings the judicial investigation into the Fortis case to an end.
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The investigating judge had charged seven former directors of the Fortis group and Fortis bank because they had not sufficiently informed the investors, but the public prosecutor had asked for the prosecution. Among the seven names are Maurice Lippens, Jean-Paul Votron and Filip Dierckx.
The judicial investigation into the loss of Fortis started in October 2008 and mainly focused on the period between September 2007 and April 2008. During that period Fortis planned a capital increase. In the course of the judicial investigation, the ex-directors were charged with not properly informing investors about Fortis’s exposure to the effects of the US real estate crisis at the time of the ABN Amro acquisition.
In a first phase, the Brussels public prosecutor’s office decided to prosecute them for, among other things, forgery in the annual accounts and fraud. After further investigation, the public prosecutor’s office concluded that it was not certain that the crime of forgery could be proven in annual accounts.
According to the Brussels public prosecutor’s office, the other offenses were also time-barred by the disappearance of those charges. In addition, a settlement had been concluded in the Netherlands in which some 290,000 investors signed up to receive compensation for a total amount of 1.3 billion euros.
In 2018, the Brussels public prosecutor’s office already decided not to prosecute anyone anymore. “Our priority was that the victims would be compensated, and that is the case,” he said. Whether that was through criminal trial or through a settlement was of secondary importance.
Most of the shareholders who had filed for civil action had accepted that settlement and withdrew his civil party claim. Some 150 shareholders decided not to accept the settlement and, through their lawyer, Mischael Modrikamen, insist on a referral and a trial in criminal court. Modrikamen is now examining whether he will appeal.
Insurance group Ageas, the listed successor to the former Fortis, reacts ‘very pleased’ that he will not be referred to the criminal court. “With this important new step in the settlement of past cases, the group can focus even more on the further development of its insurance activities.”
After the Fortis debacle during the financial crisis, the insurance arm continued to operate under the Ageas name. The French BNP Paribas bought the banking activities of Fortis.
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