Ex-EU justice chief Didier Reynders charged with money laundering

Belgian authorities have officially charged former European Commissioner Didier Reynders with money laundering, a person familiar with the case confirmed. 

He is not being held in custody, the person told Follow the Money and Belgian media partners Le Soir, De Standaard, and Le Vif. 

In December 2024, just days after Reynders’ mandate as EU justice commissioner ended, Belgian authorities raided his home on suspicions of money laundering, Follow the Money and Le Soir first reported at the time. 

The investigation has focused on the origins of close to 1 million euros. 

Reynders is suspected of having laundered about 700,000 euros through his personal bank account between 2008 and 2018. He then allegedly started laundering some 200,000 euros by buying large amounts of lottery tickets and transferring any winnings to that personal account.

The 67-year-old political veteran and his wife – a retired magistrate – were brought in for questioning in December, but neither of them was arrested or charged at the time. 

On 16 October, the investigative judge presiding over the inquiry grilled Reynders and his wife for a second time. 

The judge, Olivier Leroux, decided there were serious indications of guilt against Reynders and has officially designated him as a suspect, the source said. His wife has not been charged.

This means that Reynders and his legal team now have more defence rights: they can get access to the file and ask for elements to be further investigated. 

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Reynders has not been arrested and is expected to remain a free man while awaiting any future trial. 

If prosecutors want to bring Reynders to court, they need the approval of one of the chambers of the Belgian parliament. Money laundering in Belgium carries a maximum of five years in prison.

“My client has no comments to make, except to the judiciary,” Reynders’ lawyer André Renette said. “The confidentiality of the investigation exists to guarantee the fundamental requirement of the presumption of innocence.” 

Adrien Masset, who represents Reynders’ wife, echoed the assessment and said Renette’s statement was valid for both of their clients. The office of the Brussels general prosecutor declined to comment.

The probe all but spells the end of Reynders’ political career. Reynders served as European justice commissioner between December 2019 and December 2024. He was Belgian finance minister between 1999 and 2011 and foreign minister until 2019.

Brussels prosecutors are also investigating Reynders’ bank, ING Belgium, in connection to the corruption case. 

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ING previously said it could not provide details “due to privacy and legal obligations”.

“ING is strongly committed to fighting financial crime and invests significantly to detect money laundering practices – this is a top priority for the bank,” it told Reuters at the time.

It is unclear where Reynders got the money from. He will need to prove that he got it legally. According to people close to the case, Reynders told Belgian investigators and ING Bank in 2018 that the funds originated from sales of artworks and antiques.

After revelations in June that police searched the home of his longtime confidant and the antiques shop of a befriended art dealer, Belgian media outlets Humo and Apache reported that prosecutors are, in a separate probe, also scrutinising Reynders’ links with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Deripaska was the main shareholder of Russia’s largest aluminium company Rusal until 2019. He was close to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the early 2000s but has spoken out against Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Reynders and Deripaska were connected to an art foundation in the wealthy Brussels suburb of Uccle, where the former resides. 

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Belgium’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) wrote in its 2014 annual report that Deripaska – referred to as X in the report – used this foundation to launder money through the purchase of artworks. 

Deripaska could not immediately be reached for comment.

The report mentioned close ties between the people involved and “politically exposed people in Russia and Belgium”.

Prosecutors in 2016 without explanation abandoned the probe based on the FIU file, until it was recently picked up again, according to Apache and Humo. Reynders was one of the politically exposed people referred to in the FIU’s report, the media reported based on anonymous sources.

Jesse Pinster contributed reporting.

This article was updated on 05.11.2025 to reflect Deripaska’s past ownership of Rusal company.