Money Laundering via Lottery Scheme

Who?

Didier Reynders - Belgian Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, and EU Commissioner for Justice.

What He’s Accused Of:

• Belgian authorities suspect he laundered money by buying lottery tickets (especially “e‑tickets” / electronic lottery vouchers) over many years.


• The scheme, as alleged, involved depositing cash into lottery play, converting the cash into lottery “winnings,” and then transferring those purported winnings back into his bank account, thereby “cleaning” questionable cash.


• The money in question: reports suggest around €700,000 were deposited in cash into his ING account between 2008 and 2018.


• There’s also mention of €200,000 allegedly laundered via lottery purchases specifically.


• Police raids in his properties found some cash (~€7,000) during searches.


• The National Lottery itself and Belgium’s Financial Intelligence Processing Unit (CFI) reportedly filed reports about suspicious behavior.


• He was charged formally.

Time Period:

• The deposits and alleged laundering span from about 2008 to 2018.


• The investigation has been ongoing since at least 2023, according to media reports.


• The police waited until after he left his EU Commissioner role in late 2024 to make some of the raids, possibly because he enjoyed some legal immunity while in office.

Who Reported It / Raised the Alarm:

• The Belgian National Lottery raised suspicions about his lottery account activity.


• The Financial Intelligence Processing Unit (the CFI) also flagged his transactions.


• Media investigations (notably Follow The Money and Le Soir) first broke a lot of the public reporting.

Reynders’ Response / Defense

• Reynders denies wrongdoing. His lawyer has said that the money came from his "private estate."


• He hasn’t publicly admitted to the money-laundering allegations in detail, and calls are being made to respect the presumption of innocence.


• On the institutional side, the European Commission (while he was Commissioner) said it had no prior knowledge of the investigation, but has said it will cooperate with Belgian authorities.