By Sudip Kar-Gupta BRUSSELS (Reuters) -ING Belgium is under investigation as part of an ongoing probe into alleged money laundering by former European Union commissioner Didier Reynders - who denies
ING Belgium Under Scrutiny in Money Laundering Investigation Involving Reynders
By Sudip Kar-Gupta
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -ING Belgium is under investigation as part of an ongoing probe into alleged money laundering by former European Union commissioner Didier Reynders - who denies the charge.
"The public prosecutor's office confirms an investigation has been opened. No further comments will be made," said a spokesperson for the Belgian prosecutor's department on Wednesday, confirming an earlier report in Le Soir newspaper.
The investigation will examine ING Belgium's role in holding one of Reynders' bank accounts, which had large sums of liquid cash going in over 2008-2018, reported Le Soir.
Asked to comment on the case in question, ING replied that "due to privacy and legal obligations, we are not able to provide details relating to this matter".
"ING is strongly committed to fighting financial crime and invests significantly to detect money laundering practices - this is a top priority for the bank," added ING.
"We also work closely and cooperatively with many external stakeholders across a range of banking matters - including financial crime - and are actively doing our part to help ensure the integrity of the financial system," ING also said.
Reynders, a Belgian national, served as Belgium's finance minister and later on as its foreign minister. He was also the EU Commissioner for Justice from 2019-2024.
He has denied the charge via his lawyer Andre Renette. Renette did not have any further comments to make on the matter, when contacted on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-GuptaEditing by Mark Potter)
