Belgium charges NautaDutilh in money laundering case

Law firm NautaDutilh is suspected in Belgium of having helped the now bankrupt fashion group FNG with money laundering. This confirms a spokesman for the Dutch branch of NautaDutilh after reporting from the Belgian newspaper The time Tuesday. An investigation allegedly revealed that suspicious transactions took place via the third-party account of NautaDutilh, one of the largest law firms in the Benelux.

At the end of 2020, the Belgian police already carried out a search of NautaDutilh and a lawyer was designated as a suspect, according to The time. By digging further, the Belgian justice would now have come across the suspicious transfers. A NautaDutilh spokesperson calls it “a worrying situation”, but is confident that the “investigation will show that it has not been involved in any criminal offenses”. NautaDutilh, which has offices in Brussels, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Luxembourg, London and New York, was closely involved as legal adviser in the rapid rise of FNG.

The Belgian Public Prosecution Service is investigating fashion group FNG, which went bankrupt last year, partly due to market manipulation, forgery and money laundering. The founders have been arrested. Previously wrote The time that FNG has channeled millions of euros to a Dutch company in the past four years. It would be FIPH, an investment vehicle of a Dutch retail investor that resold several fashion chains to FNG. FNG included fashion stores Steps, Miss Etam and Claudia Sträter.