{"id":7462,"date":"2024-11-20T08:21:36","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T07:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bannister.be\/?p=7462"},"modified":"2024-11-20T08:21:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T07:21:41","slug":"omkopen-en-omgekocht-worden-twee-zijdes-van-dezelfde-strafbare-medaille","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/omkopen-en-omgekocht-worden-twee-zijdes-van-dezelfde-strafbare-medaille","title":{"rendered":"Bribing and being bribed - two sides of the same punitive coin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Bribing and being bribed - two sides of the same punitive coin<\/h2>\n

Last week, the courts raided the home of Philippe de Moerloose, a Belgian who allegedly became a millionaire by charging usurious prices in the Congo.<\/p>\n

More specifically, he is suspected of bribing Congolese officials. What the officials allegedly received is not clear. But because huge sums were paid by the Congolese government, for goods worth much less in themselves, the Moerloose's business activities are being investigated.<\/p>\n

This contribution will explain what bribery legally entails and in what way bribery is punishable in Belgium.<\/p>\n

Active versus passive bribery<\/h4>\n

Bribery can exist in two different ways.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, there is active bribery<\/strong> When a person makes or grants an offer to another person in order to obtain a benefit for himself or another. This case involves a situation in which one person offers the other bribes<\/em>.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there is passive bribery<\/strong> When a person requests or accepts an offer in order to obtain a benefit for himself or another. This case involves a situation in which one person bribed<\/em> by the other.<\/p>\n

On top of that - in both cases - the bribed person must hold a specific position and perform or refrain from performing an act within that position, in return; at least that must have been the purpose.<\/p>\n

In practice, for example, giving a bouquet of flowers or offering dinner, with the ultimate goal of obtaining a raise or a promotion, could already fall under bribery.<\/p>\n

Private versus ordinary bribery<\/h4>\n

Furthermore, bribery can occur in both the public and private spheres.<\/p>\n

In the private sphere<\/strong> involves a director or manager, agent or appointee, acting without the knowledge and permission of the board of directors, general assembly, principal or employer.<\/p>\n

In the public sphere<\/strong> involves public officials charging money for acts normally provided free of charge, taking acts outside their authority or failing to take acts they should have taken, or exerting influence to obtain an act of government.<\/p>\n

Penalties<\/p>\n<\/h4>\n

The penalties for bribery can range up to four years in prison and a fine of EUR 100,000.<\/p>\n

In a case like Philippe de Moerloose's, a fine of EUR 100,000 is most likely not too much of a deterrent.<\/p>\n

However, in addition to both imprisonment and\/or a fine, a forfeiture may also be pronounced, in the context of which all income unlawfully collected will be confiscated and awarded to the Belgian State.<\/p>\n

That that forfeiture can already deter some more should be less surprising....<\/p>\n

If you are suspected or accused of bribery or would simply like more information about it, please feel free to contact us at info@bannister.be or 03\/369.28.00.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Omkopen en omgekocht worden \u2013 twee zijdes van dezelfde strafbare medaille Afgelopen week viel het gerecht binnen bij Philippe de Moerloose, een Belg die beweerdelijk miljonair werd met het aanrekenen van woekerprijzen in Congo. Meer concreet wordt hij verdacht van omkoping van Congolese ambtenaren. Wat de ambtenaren zouden hebben ontvangen is niet duidelijk. Maar omdat […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7462"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13362,"href":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7462\/revisions\/13362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ondernemingsstrafrecht.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}