10 november 2020
15:17
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The Brussels public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into possible irregularities recently uncovered by an audit. The public prosecutor’s office confirms this to De Tijd.
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The central anti-corruption service of the federal police had already received the audit report, but it remains to be seen whether the Brussels public prosecutor’s office would actually open an investigation into the facts stated in the report. The Brussels public prosecutor’s office confirms to De Tijd that an investigation is actually being opened. But the prosecutor does not want to disclose for which possible crimes the investigation has been opened. In this phase, therefore, no judicial investigation – with an investigating judge – has yet been started.
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A report by Audit Flanders on possible irregularities has exposed pain points in the operation of several departments at the VRT. It cites examples where the procedures and rules have been circumvented or not respected. These include non-compliance with public procurement procedures and lack of supporting documents for payments.
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‘An important recommendation from the audit is that there should be transparency about contracts with screen faces and production houses. Constructions to mask how much someone really earns cannot be ‘, Flemish Minister of Media Benjamin Dalle (CD&V) said in De Tijd last month. ‘Obviously, that report is not motivating for all people who work for the VRT, but I am very optimistic. I have been responsible for media for over a year and I can tell you that the VRT is in much better shape than it was then. ‘
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The VRT gives a brief response to the decision of the Brussels public prosecutor’s office to start an investigation: ‘If an investigation is to be carried out, we will of course cooperate fully. That is obvious.’
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The trade unions at the VRT and the personnel platform Everyone VRT also reacted furiously last month. ‘Every euro has been turned over in internal projects for years. Our budgets are viewed with a magnifying glass. Now it appears that magnifying glass is clouded when it comes to external spending. The employees, who have been making significant savings for years and who have been delivering top quality for years with far too small shifts, are the victims of these practices. Just like the Flemish media users and taxpayers. ‘ A few weeks ago, the VRT staff already asked for legal action to be taken immediately if it turned out that some responsible persons were guilty of fraudulent practices.
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Illegal Practices
‘The fact that the public prosecutor’s office is opening an investigation as a result of the audit indicates that there are indications that illegal and illegal practices have been carried out with the Flemish tax money’, says Flemish MP Katia Segers of sp.a. ‘It is very important that this is thoroughly investigated and that consequences are given to it. This is extremely important for the VRT and for the Flemish. After all, this is about our tax money.
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‘Another matter is that it is now clear that VRT chairman Luc Van den Brande was aware of these indications, partly through the report of the Court of Audit of December 2019,’ Segers continues. ‘The fact that the chairman has done nothing with the directions is very problematic for me and raises the question whether Luc Van den Brande can still stay on as chairman of the board of directors. I think he should draw his conclusions. I will discuss this with Minister Dalle on Thursday. I want to hear from the minister whether he is of the opinion that the chairman can still stay on or not. ‘
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Vlaams Belang believes that the Flemish government should take civil action in the fraud file. ‘We have been demanding from day 1 that the Flemish government should file a civil party complaint with the investigating judge, but he refused to act on it,’ says Flemish parliament member and member of the media commission Klaas Slootmans (VB). ‘Let the public prosecutor’s investigation be a red flag that compels them to do so after all. The Flemings who pay for the unsavory practices on the Reyerslaan have the right to an honest and reliable broadcaster and therefore also to a Flemish government that enforces that rücksichtslos. ‘
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Pain points
In February, it became known that Audit Flanders, the agency that is scrutinizing the Flemish administration, had started an audit of several contracts with the VRT. The investigation examined whether or not there were irregularities. It was also examined whether matters went wrong in terms of integrity and deontology.
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At the beginning of October, the VRT itself announced that the report of Audit Flanders did reveal pain points in the operation of some departments of the broadcaster. ‘It cites a number of examples in which procedures and rules have been circumvented or simply not respected in recent years. At the very least, this creates the impression of inadequate organizational control and insufficient sense of integrity among certain employees, ‘it said.
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At the end of October it became clear that the Court of Audit had also found several infringements concerning the competition rules. ‘On several occasions the VRT awarded a public contract directly to a service provider, without placing a public contract or without consulting several companies, although the public procurement regulations required this,’ wrote the inspection body. ‘At the very least, the VRT was unable to demonstrate the consultation of several entrepreneurs or the impossibility of doing so, due to the lack of supporting documents or a motivated decision.’
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According to the Court of Audit, the broadcaster also did not always succeed in providing a financial overview per contract. The lack of an overview of current contracts increases the risk that certain agreements are wrongly not put back into competition on time.
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Moreover, the VRT was unable to submit formal internal instructions for contracts that do not or not entirely fall under government contract regulations.
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