Since 2005, many legal affairs blamed of the personalities of the municipal authorities of Charleroi, in Belgium. The repercussion and the impact are important at the local, regional level and even national. Elio Di Rupo, president of the PS allots even the defeat of its party at the time of legislative elections of June 10th, 2007 to those.

At August 16th, 2007, 33 people are accused in various businesses by the Examining magistrate of Charleroi, France Baeckeland.
No judgment not having been marked, all the quoted people are thus supposed innocent.

Carolorégienne: management of the companies of social dwellings of Charleroi

The town of Charleroi has five companies of social dwellings: Carolorégienne, the Slope Is, the Marcinellois Hearth, the Valley of Hour and the Modern Home.

The business of Carolorégienne burst on September 5th, 2005 when the to advise communal opposition, Olivier Chastel (MR.) made public a report/ratio of audit of the Walloon Société of housing. This report/ratio blamed the management of the company of social housing Carolorégienne .

This report/ratio hid some another, of 2002, more overpowering. Revealed by Francoise Baré, journalist, on September 15th, 2005 on the waves of Promptness, a radio of RTBF, this one reveals embezzlements and the file is put at the instruction.

This day there, after a searching in the offices of Carolorégienne , the aldermen Andre Liesse, president, Claude Despiegeleer, administrator-delegate and Serge Van Bergen, vice-president, resign. All members of the absolute majority PS which directed the Town of Charleroi since 1977, year of the fusion of the communes.

A few days later, Andre Liesse and Claude Despiegeleer also resign of their post of alderman.

This business led to the inculpation of Claude Despiegeleer (who will be écroué during more than one month), Serge Van Bergen and André Liesse as well as old Senator Francis Poty, another vice-president of Carolorégienne . These inculpations and the media pressures which followed brought Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, former burgomaster and president of the communal socialist Union (USC) of Charleroi to resign September 30th, 2005 of its station of Minister-president of the Walloon region.

Serge Van Bergen will refuse to resign as an alderman, but will be dislocated following a motion of mistrust voted by the Town council of Charleroi on June 29th, 2006.

September 12th, 2006, Luc Brother, managing director of Carolorégienne , is accused of forgery and use of forgery, abuse of corporate asset, diversion and swindle.

In July 2007, the ex-police chief of the Walloon region near Carolorégienne , Jean-Claude Henrotin, will be also accused not to have denounced the fraudulent management of the company.

Carolo (a) - misuse of public money with the profit of sporting companies

Justice would have updated a system of financing escaping control from the town council. A transfer of funds enters the autonomous communal Control and of the sporting companies. Transfers which would have made it possible to engage the contractual ones within associations paracommunales such Charleroi Infra Sports and the Parc of the Sports but those did not work in the structures which pay them.

May 24th, 2006, Patrick Henseval, principal private secretary of the Burgomaster Jacques Van Gompel and chair of the team of Dauphine volleyballs the like Eric Somme, manager of the club of tennis shoe Spirous, are accused of forgery and use of forgery, active corruption and misuse of public money.

May 8th, 2007 the examining magistrate Baeckeland France, decreed six new inculpations in this file against the ex-aldermen Claude Despiegeleer and Serge Van Bergen, of the former accountant of Carolorégienne and Charleroi Infra Sports , Luc Frère, of the manager of the Parc of the Sports Jeanine Button, of the administrator of the land Régie Philippe Gillet like against the treasurer of the land Control Claude Rokens.

Faked government contracts

According to the parquet floor of Charleroi, for at least ten years of many government contracts have been faked by the Town hall. The system set up by the municipal authorities consisted of the scission of certain government contracts in order to avoid having recourse to invitations to tender, like in the use of false goods of order, thus supporting friendly firms to gain these government contracts.

In 2006, the senior officials responsible for the department Saving energy , Patrick Roeland and Jean-pol. Insecca, pertaining to the service for which had been responsible the alderman Claude Despiegeleer within the department for the Public buildings of Charleroi, were accused in this file.

The October 20th 2006, a few days after the communal elections, the burgomaster of Charleroi, Jacques Van Gompel is accused of forgery, use of forgery and diversion by public servant. Following its inculpation and with its imprisonment he resigns of his post of burgomaster of Charleroi. He was placed under warrant for arrest and was transferred to the institution pénitencière from Jamioulx. The first alderman of Charleroi, the Socialist Jean-pol. Demacq provides the function of burgomaster until the December 4th 2006.

Justice reproaches in particular Jacques Van Gompel for having made a forgery with the course College échevinal of the December 30th 2005, in which would have also taken part the aldermen Socialist Marc Parmentier, become president of the CPAS, Jean-pol. Demacq, always alderman of the Éducation, and Leon Casaert, become burgomaster as well as the communal Receveur Pierre Oversteyns and the communal Secrétaire Eric Lecomte.

The March 8th 2007, the communal receiver Pierre Oversteyns, in load of all the payments carried out by the Town of Charleroi, and the communal secretary Eric Lecomte was accused for forgery and use of forgery by public servant by the judge France Baeckeland, but was left in freedom. Justice reproaches Pierre Oversteyns for having carried out the payment of antedated goods of order signed by Jacques Van Gompel, and Eric Lecomte not to have controlled the legality of these transactions. Following their inculpation, the two senior officials were suspended of their function by the communal college.

Inter-commune of collection and destruction of the rubbish

There are two distinct businesses blaming certain persons in charge of ICDI, the shutter false and use of forgery and the ecological shutter .

False shutter and use of forgery

In the first category, justice makes the reproaches following to the persons in charge of the ICDI:

• Signatures of conventions of sponsoring following faked minutes of meetings not having taken place.

• the ICDI would have paid a former footballer like public relation of a football club in room Action 21.
• Certain employees and vehicles of the ICDI would have worked in the associations chaired by the director of the ICDI, Lucien Cariat.
• Subsidies paid with religious organizations which deal with steps of the Between-Sambre-and-Meuse. the ICDI, for example, made up the deficit of the association which deals with the Holy-Rolende of Gerpinnes.
• Lucien Cariat continued to perceive its double wages of president-director, whereas a decree of the Walloon region had prohibited the office plurality of these mandates. Following this imprisonment, Lucien Cariat had to resign of its mandate of alderman of the Environment of Charleroi and with the ICDI, it is replaced by the vice-president and bourgemestre of Gerpinnes, Roland Marchal.

In September 2006, following internal pressures, Roland Marchal resigned of the presidency of the ICDI.

May 26th, 2006, Claude Piraux, person in charge of the parks with containers of the ICDI, is accused of threats and diversion. It will be placed under warrant for arrest and will be imprisoned for one month.

May 10th, 2007, the examining magistrate of Charleroi, Baeckeland France, confirms the inculpation, for abuse of corporate asset, forgery and use of forgery by public servant and diversion, of the people who composed the steering committee of ICDI at the time of supposed basic diversion. It is about Lucien Cariat of the former regional deputy and former burgomaster socalist of Gerpinnes, Roland Marchal, the former alderman of Charleroi Serge Omer and the alderman of Châtelet Henri Lemarque.

Phantom échevinaux colleges - file of the false official reports of college

Dated June 18th, 2007, the majority of the members of the college of the preceding legislature were accused in this same file. It is the case of the ex-burgomaster Jacques Van Gompel and of the aldermen or ex-aldermen Jean-pol. Demacq, Claude Despiegeleer, Serge Van Bergen, Claude Bael, Gerard Monseux, Lucien Cariat, Christian Renard, André Liesse and Leon Casaert, the burgomaster in the course of mandate.

Inculptés for forgery and use of forgery by public servant, it to them is reproached for having taken share the clothes industry of false official reports of college échevinal, an infringement which would have lasted several years, according to the diagram of the open colleges . ,

June 19th, 2007, Marc Parmentier, then alderman and president of CPAS was accused in this file for the period when it succeeded Claude Despiegeleer, namely of October 2005 in December 2006 .

June 20th, 2007, it is with the turn of the ex-échevine Evelyne Druart, today communal adviser, to be accused.

Finally, the last three aldermen having sat under the old socialist majority, namely Serge Beghin, Viviane Vanacker and Bernard Van Dyck will be them also accused for the same criminal charge, on August 16th, 2007.

Moderation

Even if these strongly mediatized businesses had an significant impact in the public opinion, it is advisable to relativize of it the importance within sight of the sums in plays in scandals which touched some other cities. For example Marbella, in Spain where 2,4 billion euros of goods of doubtful origin was seized, the municipal council dissolves, the stopped ex-mayor and 5 former advisers put in detention pending trial.

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