Between 2016 and 2021, an employee of the ASBL Train World diverted more than a million euros via false invoices. The SNCB, in charge of the museum, filed a complaint and ensures that it has reinforced its internal controls.
A former employee of the World Train Accounting Service, the train museum located in Schaerbeek, was sentenced in March 2023 for a massive fraud that caused financial damage of 1.06 million euros. The information, revealed this Friday by the VRT, was confirmed by the SNCB, which manages the museum.
Between 2016 and March 2021, the fraudous person issued false invoices in the name of service providers supposed to have provided cleaning or communication services to Train World. However, these services have never taken place. Worse, the bank account number registered on the invoices corresponded to its own, allowing the money to transit directly on its personal account.
A fraud discovered when he retired
The ploy was discovered late, on the occasion of the closing of the accounts of the year 2020, when the employee left the company to retire.
According to her own declarations, she acted alone and assumed the entire billing process: “I could myself establish, check, approve and sign the invoices. I was responsible for A to Z”she explained to the VRT.
-“I didn’t take advantage, I’m ashamed”
Confronted with the facts, the ex-accountant admitted having gone through a difficult period on the personal level, evoking an addiction to the games of money as an engine of his act: “So I did not enrich myself, quite the contrary. I am ashamed”. She was also surprised by the total absence of control which she was the subject: “During all these years, nobody checked me. Do you find it normal?”
A fifth of the budget. And no one realized it
Another source cited by the VRT confirmed the weakness of the World Train Monitoring mechanisms, recalling that the operating costs of the museum reached around one million euros per year. “For five years, this represented 200,000 euros in false invoices. A fifth of the budget. And no one realized it.”
Corrective measures initiated by the SNCB
After the discovery of the facts, the SNCB and Train World filed a complaint in April 2021. The criminal court ordered the former employee to reimburse the entire diverted amount, or 1.06 million euros. Part of this sum has already been recovered, said the railway company.
Since then, the SNCB has claimed to have strengthened its internal procedures. An audit was led, leading to an improvement in accounting and control systems. In addition, the company has integrated almost all of its subsidiaries, including the Asbl Train World, to better centralize financial management. Train World SNCB Banking Fraud Banking Belgium
