Prince Laurent of Belgium has found himself in the middle of a scandal.
Prince Laurent of Belgium has been in the headlines before. PDO
King of Belgium Philippe’s a younger brother, a prince Laurentia, is accused of blackmailing the Libyan state investment fund. According to the Belgian court, the matter is proceeding in the normal order to be processed by the court.
The dispute between Prince Laurent and the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), the Libyan state investment fund, is related to the fund’s investments in Belgium. Prince Laurent’s company, called the Global Sustainable Development Trust (GSDT), claims to have entered into an agreement with the LIA in the year 2008 on the management of investment fund assets in Belgium. According to Prince Laurent, according to the agreement, GSDT was to be paid annually two percent of the value of LIA’s investments.
However, the LIA has denied the existence of such an agreement and maintains that it never entered into an agreement with Prince Laurent or GSDT. According to the LIA, Prince Laurent’s company has also done no real work for the investment fund and thus does not deserve a fee.
The filing of criminal charges of fraud and extortion is the latest step in a years-long dispute between the Libyan authorities and the king’s brother.
Libyan autocrat Muammar Gaddafi died displaced in the Libyan civil war in August 2011. Although the LIA has always officially claimed to have been an organization independent of Gaddafi, its assets abroad were frozen by a decision of the UN Security Council as part of the remains interpreted as stolen by the dictator from his country. The funds frozen in Belgian banks are around 15 billion euros.
Prince Laurent may face up to 10 years in prison. PDO
According to the lawyers who brought the criminal case, Prince Laurent abused his position by claiming that he could influence the return of the frozen assets and the criminal process against the LIA. In return, Laurent demanded that the fund pay him 70 million euros.
In Belgium, influence peddling can be sentenced to six months to four years in prison, fraud can result in one month to five years in prison, and extortion can be sentenced to five to ten years in prison.
Black sheep
59-year-old Prince Laurent is considered the black sheep of the family for several reasons. She has repeatedly made headlines for her unorthodox behavior and political comments that are at odds with royal family traditions and court protocol.
He has also caused controversy with, among other things, his attempts to get more public funding, which has drawn criticism and caused tension within the royal family. The fact that the prince has repeatedly used to slander other members of the royal family in public and complain that the Court does not support him enough has by no means alleviated the reputation of the black sheep.
Prince Laurent is considered the black sheep of the family. PDO
Hard driving
Laurent’s thinking is well illustrated by the fact that in 2011 he lost his driver’s license after crashing at a speed of 30 kilometers in Brussels. At that time, the prince insisted that those who drive fast cars should have their own special category of driver’s license, with which they could drive faster than other traffic, regardless of the restrictions.
In 2017, the government cut Laurent’s tax-free annual allowance of €308,000 by 15 percent because he attended the 90th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in full Belgian naval uniform at the Chinese embassy in Brussels, despite the government’s express ban. Trained as an officer, Laurent has served in the Belgian navy in a unit specialized in clearing sea mines. He has also acquired helicopter pilot training.
The prince tweeted a proud photo of the event posing with high-ranking officers of the Liberation Army. As a result, the prince’s official Twitter account was closed, but the damage had already been done because the Chinese news agency Xinhua had managed to share the picture with its followers as proof of Belgium’s support for the country’s politics.
The prince then appealed his treatment to the European Court of Human Rights. According to Laurent, the budget cut violated the European Convention on Human Rights because, like ordinary citizens, he does not have the opportunity to support himself with normal paid work. In his appeal, however, he ignored the fact that the average Belgian’s annual income after taxes was on average less than a tenth of his tax-free income even after the surgery.
In addition, Laurent complained that it is very difficult to find new friends in Belgium, because royalty is not held in the same high regard in the country as in many other European monarchies.
Prince Laurent’s antics have caused headaches for the Belgian government and relatives. PDO
A ceremonial institution
Prince Laurent is the king who retired in 2013 of Albert II and the queen Paola’s the youngest son. The Royal House of Belgium has a mainly ceremonial role without political power. Laurent does not have any special protection from prosecution in Belgium, even though he is a member of the royal family
Belgium is a constitutional monarchy and federal state divided into three states; to Flemish, or practically Dutch-speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia and the capital Brussels, which is officially bilingual, although its main language is French. The country’s third official language is German, which is spoken in a small area in the eastern part of Wallonia.
All states and language groups in Belgium have extensive self-government and a strong identity of their own. The central meaning of the Royal House is seen as functioning as an institution that unites the whole of Belgium.