Carolorégienne affair

The Carolorégienne affair took place between 2005 and 2007. Court cases implicated personalities of the municipal government in the city of Charleroi in Belgium.

The Courthouse in Charleroi.

In October 2006, mayor Jacques Van Gompel of the PS was jailed on fraud and forgery charges. Léon Casaert, also of the PS, became the new mayor, elected by PS, MR and cdH majorities. The MR resigned from the coalition just before the 2007 general election, citing official charges of corruption leveled against a PS alderman in Charleroi.

The affair had implications at the local, regional and even national levels. Elio Di Rupo, president of the Socialist Party attributed the defeat of his party in the 2007 Belgian federal election to the scandal.^[1] After the 2007 general election, the PS placed the Charleroi local party section under the supervision of Paul Magnette, with the city executive resigning. Mayor Casaert was charged with fraud on 18 June 2007, but only stepped down after a new city executive had been formed.

In April 2010, the director of technical services of Charleroi, Henri Stassens, was convicted in court of fraud and corruption.

On 16 August 2007, 33 people were charged in different cases by the investigating judge.

On 29 June 2012, additional convictions were pronounced. The affair ended in March 2016 after these cases were completede.^[2]