Prince Laurent, the king’s younger brother, and his half British wife Princess Claire have fallen victim to a phishing scam. In late 2021 over €17,000 was stolen from their accounts. Part of that money was used to make payments at a nightclub in Spain. The public prosecutor’s office is now seeking prison sentences of up to 15 months.
On 23 December 2021, Princess Claire received a text message purporting to be from Card Stop, stating that her bank card needed to be blocked. As she had lost her bank card a few days earlier, the message seemed credible.
Via the link in the message, she was directed to a fake website, where she carried out various steps to verify her identity. When she became suspicious, she closed the website, but on 4 January 2022, the 52-year-old princess was no longer able to carry out any transactions. After contacting the bank, it emerged that she had fallen victim to cyber fraud.
5 suspects identified
In total, more than €17,000 was withdrawn from accounts belonging to Princess Claire and Prince Laurent, both from their personal account and from three accounts over which Princess Claire had power of attorney.
The police were able to establish that the original text message had come from a woman in Antwerp. However, she pleaded not guilty and stated that her identity card had been stolen and was used to open a mobile phone contract in her name.
Investigations discovered that the money was transferred to various Belgian accounts between 1 and 4 January 2022. Part of the stolen money was subsequently used to make payments at a nightclub and at Fnac store in Marbella, Spain.
Investigators were able to identify a total of five suspects. One person now possibly faces 15 months in prison, whilst the other defendants face one year. The case has been adjourned until 28 September because some of the defendants were unable to attend their trial.