Acquittals in Ghent buildings agency corruption trial

The Ghent case is part of a larger investigation of corruption allegations started in 2006 and concerning the buildings agency in Brussels and Leuven.

In the current case, the civil servants were accused of coaching the four contractors – based in Sint-Gillis-Waas, Wachtebeke, Beveren and Wortegem-Petegem – to unify their bids and then taking a “commission” of 10 to 15% from the contract price. They were also treated to meals at top restaurants or had work carried out at their own homes or those of family members at a reduced price or for free.

The prosecution had called for sentences of one year suspended, but the court returned not guilty verdicts in all cases, arguing the evidence did not prove systematic corruption. The charges were too general to allow the accused to present an adequate defence, the court said. Also, the period of the alleged offences, it said, was too broad – covering a period of 2000 to 2009 – to allow a decision to be made as to whether the offences might not be too old to prosecute.

“We had argued that the case was so vague and generalised that we couldn’t present an adequate defence,” Jan De Winter, lawyer for the civil servants, said later. “The charges covered a period of almost 10 years, without ever saying which of the accused did what at which time.” The prosecution has the option to lodge an appeal.

The main buildings agency case is still going on in Brussels, alleging similar practices and involving 12 civil servants, 35 contractors and 24 companies. Contractors in that case have alleged they were forced to pay commissions of 3 to 6% of a contract value to be allowed to enter a bid in the first place. The prosecution in that case is asking for sentences of six months to three years.

Photo by Wiktor Dabkowski/dpa/Corbis