Investigation into former minister Luc Martens: “Borrowed money not returned”

According to De Krant Van West-Vlaanderen, “dozens of figures from the West Flemish ‘haute finance’, industry and business world” are dragging Luc Martens before the civil court. The reason, according to the newspaper: he allegedly borrowed up to 3 million euros to fill a financial hole, but the victims have not received that money back for the time being. Rumors have been circulating about the case for several weeks.

“Scammed with bitcoins”

The issue revolves around fraud with digital money, bitcoins, says kw.be. According to anonymous sources in the newspaper, Luc Martens was scammed with bitcoins and lost a lot of money as a result. “Under pressure from the banks, he started raising money everywhere,” writes kw.be.

Response Luc Martens: “Family issue”

In response to De Krant Van West-Vlaanderen, Luc Martens says that on his part there is no question of “fraud, at most late payments. The cause of the financial problems is not fraud with bitcoin, but a ‘family matter’. I have “I have every confidence in the discussions through the court and the solutions that result from them,” according to Luc Martens, according to De Krant Van West-Vlaanderen.

Luc Martens (77) was mayor of Roeselare for the CD&V from 2005 to 2016. He was Flemish Minister of Culture for the CVP from 1995 to 1999.

Public prosecutor starts investigation

Based on the reports, the public prosecutor’s office started an investigation this afternoon. The public prosecutor’s office does this “ex officio” and examines whether criminal offenses have been committed.

“At this time, the public prosecutor’s office has no knowledge of victims or amounts,” says the spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office. If it turns out that criminal offenses have been committed, the public prosecutor’s office will open a judicial investigation.”