Jeroen Piqueur suddenly speaks again about bankruptcy: “It l … (Ghent)

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Jeroen Piqueur, the former CEO of the bankrupt Optima Bank, fears that the investigation into the bank’s demise four years ago will be barred. He says this in a press release that he is sending now that his prohibition of speaking from the court has ended. “What are they still waiting for?”, Says Piqueur, who thinks the public prosecutor’s office does not want to bring it to trial. “I still don’t understand why the bank went bankrupt. It seems as if everything has been done to make Optima small. ”

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The Optima Bank went bankrupt in 2016. Former CEO Jeroen Piqueur, his son Ruben and daughter Rebecca were arrested in December 2017 by the investigating judge in Ghent. Jeroen Piqueur has been charged with misuse of corporate assets, money laundering offenses, fraudulent insolvency and breaches of banking laws. The Ghent chamber of indictment decided at the end of December 2017 to release him under conditions pending trial, but the investigation is still ongoing. It started after the National Bank submitted indications of criminal violations to the public prosecutor’s office in East Flanders in June 2016.

Jeroen Piqueur lost most of his assets in a tangle of legal proceedings after the bankruptcy. He is now counterattacking head-on. “Piqueur breaks the silence after four years, because he fears that the investigation will be postponed,” says Piqueur’s press release. “The fact that he is now allowed to speak to the press is the result of an administrative error by a magistrate who responded too late to his request to lift the ban on speaking. The file is now in danger of expiring and Piqueur absolutely wants to avoid that, because the true facts in the saga surrounding the bankruptcy of Optima would never come to light. ”

Prescription

The fact that Piqueur himself raises the slowness of the justice system is exceptional, because a prescription or exceeding of the reasonable term always works in favor of the suspects.

Optima is “a technical file that should not be that difficult for a financial expert”, says Piqueur. “An investigation doesn’t have to take that long at all. I try to maintain my confidence in the justice system, but they do not make it easy for me. After all, the investigation has little to do with the heart of the matter. I still do not know what is actually being blamed on me. Because, unlike the other protagonists in the file, I do not get the chance to view the file. So it seems as if people do not want to let it come to a trial. What are they waiting for? Perhaps they should also screen my school reports? ”

According to Piqueur, Optima did not have to go bust. “Optima made about a hundred new high net worth customers per month, which was a thorn in the side of quite a few large banks and the larger private bankers. The real question to ask is: who has benefited from Optima’s bankruptcy? ”Says Piqueur. “I may have made the wrong choices, though. And yes, I have lived a generous life, which people blame me for. But that is not prohibited or punishable. Optima was a very profitable company and as a shareholder I have reaped the benefits. There is nothing wrong with that in itself. The only thing I would do differently is to take over the loss-making Ethias Bank. That was a business mistake. ”

No details

The public prosecutor’s office of East Flanders does not provide details about the investigation. “The investigation is still ongoing”, the public prosecutor’s office replied at the beginning of September to a question from Belga about the status of the file.

The Optima Bank went bankrupt in 2016. Former CEO Jeroen Piqueur, his son Ruben and daughter Rebecca were arrested in December 2017 by the investigating judge in Ghent. Jeroen Piqueur has been charged with misuse of corporate assets, money laundering offenses, fraudulent insolvency and breaches of banking laws. The Ghent chamber of indictment decided at the end of December 2017 to release him under conditions pending trial, but the investigation is still ongoing. It started after the National Bank submitted indications of criminal violations to the public prosecutor’s office in East Flanders in June 2016.

Tangle

Jeroen Piqueur lost most of his assets in a tangle of legal proceedings after the bankruptcy. He is now counterattacking head-on. “Piqueur breaks the silence after four years, because he fears that the investigation will be postponed,” says Piqueur’s press release. “The fact that he is now allowed to speak to the press is the result of an administrative error by a magistrate who responded too late to his request to lift the ban on speaking. The file is now in danger of expiring and Piqueur absolutely wants to avoid that, because the true facts in the saga surrounding the bankruptcy of Optima would never come to light. ”

The fact that Piqueur himself raises the slowness of the justice system is exceptional, because a prescription or exceeding of the reasonable term always works in favor of the suspects.

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