Hotel corruption suspicions lead to searches in France and Belgium

Suspicions of corruption surrounding the construction of a large hotel in the Chadian capital N’Djamena led to a series of ten searches on September 4, six in Belgium and four in France targeting executives of a Belgian construction company, CFE, owned by the Belgian group Ackermans & van Haaren, and some of its representatives, a source close to the investigation told Agence France Presse. Four people were arrested in Belgium. No information was immediately available on possible arrests in France.

The case concerns the construction, around ten years ago, of the “Grand Hotel” in N’Djamena and on “recovery of the debt”, which would still be owed to CFE by the Chadian authorities, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office stressed in a press release. “The investigation, launched following a report made by a financial intermediary in April 2024, is being conducted by a Brussels investigating judge and has been entrusted to the Belgian Office for the Suppression of Corruption [dépendant de la police fédérale, NDLR]the statement added. A joint investigation team has been set up under the aegis of Eurojust with the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office.

According to Belgian media, the construction of this mega hotel – managed by the Radisson Blu chain – was decided under the presidency of Idriss Déby Itno, former president of Chad for more than 30 years, killed in 2021 by rebels during a military operation. The establishment was inaugurated in 2017 but the full bill has never been paid. Chad still owes several tens of millions of euros to the CFE company.

The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office has not given any details on the financial amounts or the identities of the Belgian and French executives suspected of corruption. In Belgium, searches were carried out in the Brussels municipalities of Auderghem, Ixelles and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre (two), as well as in Lasne and Hoeilaart, in Brabant, in the centre of the country.