Laurent Hericord, the boss of Avrox, the Luxembourg company that supplied 15 million cloth face masks to Belgium during the full corona pandemic, has been arrested again. That reports the newspaper ‘Le Soir’.
The Belgian state paid 32 million euros for the mouth masks, after deducting fines for late delivery. Pharmacies then distributed the masks to the population. But that was stopped when suspicions arose about the possible presence of silver nanoparticles. In April, the French-language broadcaster RTBF revealed that the remaining stock, or nearly 7 million face masks, would be destroyed.
The newspaper ‘Le Soir’ reports that luxury vehicles were recently seized from Avrox, whose original corporate purpose was the rental of vehicles. But Hericord says he doesn’t own it.
The Brussels public prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the case. But Laurent Kennes, Hericord’s attorney, confirmed the arrest, saying his client “doesn’t understand why it is necessary to place him in custody while he was still free during his full police questioning.”
“The measures taken in this case are disproportionate,” Kennes said. “My client reiterates that the Belgian state has not been defrauded for 32 million euros. The masks were delivered and the payments were made on the basis of the deliveries.” Hericord and his lawyer strongly deny money laundering.
The police and investigating judge questioned Hericord again this week, after which he was arrested. Hericord will appear before the council chamber on Monday.
Also review. Was there cheating when purchasing mouth masks by the government?
Was Belgium scammed when buying millions of mouth masks? Police investigation embarrasses ex-minister (+)
Was there cheating in the purchase of millions of mouth masks by the government? Invoice to mysterious firm attracts police attention (+)
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