Luc Vansteenkiste, a prominent Belgian businessman who is a director of BNP Paribas Fortis, has been arrested in connection with a €19.5 million insider dealing scam. The Times Online reports that the matter involves shares of Fortis in the Belgian bank’s final days as a standalone business. Vansteenkiste is also CEO of Recitel, a foam manufacturer.
The investigation reportedly relates to the sale of €19.5 million Fortis shares by Compagnie du Bois Sauvage, a Belgian holding company where Mr. Vansteenkiste is also a director. The Times Online reports that “Compagnie du Bois Sauvage sold the Fortis shares on October 3, last year, just before the Netherlands said it would nationalise Fortis’s Dutch operations, the first stage in the break-up of the wider Fortis group.”
