Ex-police boss Glenn Audenaert is said to have received more than 100,000 euros for services rendered to the late lobbyist Koen Blijweert and real estate magnate Frank Zweegers. That is the opinion of the public prosecutor’s office.
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After a legal procession from Echternach that lasted more than ten years, the bullet is finally through the church. The Ghent Public Prosecutor’s Office wants to bring Glenn Audenaert, the former judicial director of the Brussels federal judicial police to court on suspicion of corruption, money laundering offenses, violation of professional secrecy and forgery of documents.
This confirms the Ghent Public Prosecutor’s Office. In addition to Audenaert himself, the public prosecutor’s office also wants to bring Marleen P., Audenaert’s former girlfriend, and businessman Geert V., a former business partner of lobbyist Koen Blijweert, who died in February. According to our information, the public prosecutor’s office is of the opinion that Audenaert received cash money at different times from the late Koen Blijweert and Geert V. On wiretapped phone calls it was said how agreements were made to hand over the money. It would be an amount of more than 100,000 euros.
Move
Everything revolves around the move of the federal police in 2011 to the National Administrative Center (RAC). The decision to move was not in Audenaert’s hands, but he is suspected of using his influence at the police summit for a fee to help push the move to the RAC building. He is said to have done this at the request of Frank Zweegers of Breevast, who was co-owner of the RAC. Koen Blijweert, on the other hand, was a business partner of Zweigers. According to a 2019 finance audit, the building cost the taxpayer millions too much.
The judicial investigation into Audenaert went in fits and starts. He was arrested and charged for the first time in June 2012. Then because he was suspected of violating his professional secrecy in favor of businessman William DW
In September 2015 he was arrested again and also charged with passive bribery in connection with the relocation of the services of the federal police in Brussels to the RAC building. In this part of the investigation, Blijweert and Zweijers were also placed under suspicion. Blijweert is said to have given cash money to Audenaert, Zweegers is said to have deposited money to Marleen P., the then girlfriend of Glenn Audenaert.
The file was delayed in 2018 because of procedural irregularities. A number of investigative acts were found to be invalid and had to be removed from the criminal file.
Koen Blijweert has passed away in the meantime. The public prosecutor’s office ruled that the facts are time-barred for Zwaarers, so he will not be prosecuted. Both Blijweert and Zweegers have always emphatically denied the facts during the investigation.
Villa
In addition to the facts surrounding the RAC, Audenaert is also accused of having spent a holiday in a villa abroad belonging to Patrick A., a Brussels businessman who was currently under criminal investigation. According to our sources, he is also being prosecuted for hand and span services he allegedly provided to another businessman, William DW.
Audenaert herself has been retired for a while now. His lawyer Joris De Smet was not yet available for comment.
On Thursday, the Chamber of Indictment (AI) will meet to check the special investigation techniques used in the file. Only then does the case come before the council chamber and even later possibly before the court. Undoubtedly, one of the arguments Audenaert and co. there will be use that the reasonable period in the meantime has been exceeded for a long time.
In any case, it will be a difficult fight in court to avoid prescription.
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