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The director of PostNL Belgium and the operational manager were arrested on Monday and are in jail. They are suspected of human trafficking and of leading a criminal organization. That writes the Belgian newspaper The last news Tuesday.
On Monday, police raided three delivery service depots, arresting nine people. Six of the nine detainees were released on Monday by the investigating judge. The director, the operational manager and a third employee are still in custody.
Also read this interview: Abuse at PostNL is no longer a surprise to the Belgian public prosecutor
In addition to trafficking in human beings and leading a criminal organization, the suspects are charged with forgery and ‘prohibited posting’ (also known as ‘lending’ of personnel), it writes. The last news† The council chamber will decide on Friday whether the detention of the suspects will be extended.
The Belgian police raided parcel depots in Wommelgem, Willebroek and Turnhout on Monday morning. The depot in Turnhout was released that same day, the other two depots remain sealed for the time being. PostNL has opened an emergency depot to continue parcel delivery in Belgium. It is unclear how many packages are in the two sealed depots.
PostNL is ‘outraged’
A PostNL spokesperson said he was “outraged” about the state of affairs. “We have not heard anything about the allegations through official channels and read all about it in the media. This is extremely intimidating for those involved.”
Justice has been investigating malpractice and fraud at PostNL Belgium for some time. In November last year, the depot in Wommelgem was also sealed after a police raid. Violations of part-time contracts and people working undeclared were found there. The depot was reopened after a few days.
Investors reacted negatively to the news about the Belgian subsidiary of PostNL. Although the broad Midkap index rose by almost 2 percent on Tuesday, the postal company fell by 1 percent.
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