Police digitisation: Judicial investigation launched into misuse of public funds

The Brussels public prosecutor’s office has opened a judicial inquiry to investigate potential misappropriation of public funds and a "conflict of interest" in regards to a major project aimed at digitising and centralising police information.

The I-Police project spent €75.8 million in public money before being abandoned.

It was supposed to digitise the integrated police force, enabling police to cross-reference and access data from some 80 applications and databases in a single information platform.

A framework for the project was signed in 2021 with French IT consultancy group Sopra Steria Group and was expected to use €299 million in funding.

But interior minister Bernard Quintin (MR) decided to halt the project because there were "no tangible results" after years of work and millions in funding.

The federal parliament's home affairs committee will organise hearings on the matter, starting with those responsible for the project within the police force.

These initial hearings will include Marc De Mesmaeker, the former commissioner-general of the police, and his successor Eric Snoeck. A total of 15 people involved will be invited to a hearing.

The far-right Vlaams Belang party wants to go one step further and have a parliamentary investigative committee look into the matter.

“We’re concerned about contradictory statements from the current and previous governments,” said MP Ortwin Depoortere (Vlaams Belang). "Former minister Annelies Verlinden apparently did not take any significant action in response to an alarming audit from 2023.”

Depoortere is calling for "all documents to be released" and said that a parliamentary investigation was needed in which witnesses are summoned and questioned under oath.

“This is the only way taxpayers can get full transparency,” said Depoortere.

“It’s high time that politicians are held accountable for their mismanagement. Now that the judiciary is investigating possible embezzlement of public funds and conflicts of interest, we as parliament must intervene.”

Prosecutor Julien Moinil said he decided to open a case after the announcement of the discontinuation of I-Police by interior minister Bernard Quintin, and the publication of several articles about the project.

Sopra Steria said it would "cooperate fully" with the investigation if asked to do so.

The investigation has been entrusted to the federal judicial police, with the support of the Central Office for the Suppression of Corruption (OCRC).