Last year, judges declared a total of more than 518 million euros forfeited in 8,885 files. The government service was able to recover 85 million euros in crime money, but an amount of 433 million euros still remains outstanding that should be collected. According to the FPS Finance, it is very difficult to recover that money, because convicts often organize themselves in such a way that their assets are inaccessible.
“That amount is enormous, but the 85 million euros that we collected should not be underestimated,” says spokesperson Francis Adyns. “It is difficult, because we are dealing with people who organize their inability themselves. So they ensure that they no longer have any property or movable property that we can seize.”
“It can also concern people who are in prison, so we cannot garnish their wages. Sometimes it is people who are in a distant foreign country, such as drug criminals, who move to a country where it is difficult to recover money And there are also people who are simply incapacitated. Then it is a difficult story, you cannot peel off the skin.”
Tags: government missed million euros overdue collections year
