Charges brought in fish auction case
Prosecutors in Bruges have brought charges against 11 individuals and four companies alleging fraud surrounding activities at the Ostend fish market auction. The case alleges that fish caught off the Belgian coast were sold as coming from Irish waters, in an attempt to circumvent local fishing quotas. One of the accused is the Ostend alderman Yves Miroir, who denies any knowledge of the scheme.
The fraud is alleged to have been carried out by H&G International, with the support of several fishing companies. Ostend attracts boats from the waters of various countries in the area, whose catch counts towards their own national quotas. According to reports, the investigation has taken eight years, while the fraud has been going on even longer.
Police in Mechelen, meanwhile, have arrested eight people in connection with an alleged fraud ring dealing in fish and meat, with charges of forgery of livestock passports and other documents, insurance fraud and issuing bad cheques. The case came to light last September when a truck carrying cattle was stopped by customs officers in Lummen, Limburg province.
