Audit Flanders started its investigation at the end of last year after statements of an anonymous witness in the VRT program ‘Pano’.
The testimony mentioned close ties between the inspectorate and the chemical company 3M.
After a thorough investigation, this turned out to be true.
It effectively left an inspector too close ties to 3M.
It concerns a former employee who retired in 2019.
The inspector, a manager of the Environmental Inspectorate in Antwerp, had close ties with a number of companies, including 3M.
Audit Flanders even found indications that crimes had actually been committed by the inspector at four companies.
For example, he fiddled official reports and influenced inspection reports from supervisors.
It would concern three petrochemical companies located in the port of Antwerp and one agricultural company in Ravels.
For that farm, the inspector allegedly manipulated a police report and obscured the presence of fipronil, a dangerous insecticide, in the farm’s manure.
The facts are so serious that the police have also been informed.
The file is now with the Central Service for Combating Corruption of the Federal Police