Brussels prosecutors launched an investigation into alleged public corruption within the federal investment firm SFPIM, targeting activities from 2023 and 2024. Former subsidiary head Jean-Claude Fontinoy and a presidential advisor face referral to the correctional court in November over purported hidden remuneration schemes involving a non-profit association.
Brussels Prosecutors Open SFPIM Corruption Inquiry
The Brussels public prosecutor’s office has led an active inquiry since the beginning of 2026 into suspected public corruption at the Société fédérale de participations et d’investissement (SFPIM), the investment arm of the federal state. The scrutiny centers on transactions and events dating back to 2023 and 2024. Investigators from the economic and financial division of the federal judicial police in Brussels executed banking investigations, house searches, and numerous witness interviews as part of the probe.
Authorities placed several individuals under arrest while the judicial inquiry moves forward. Prosecutors state that a first component of the case has concluded and will be brought before the French-speaking correctional court of Brussels in November 2026.
Investigators Target Jean-Claude Fontinoy Over Hidden Remuneration
The judicial file implicates Jean-Claude Fontinoy, the former long-time right-hand man of politician Didier Reynders and former president of the board of directors of SFPIM International. Investigators assert that Fontinoy and a presidential advisor engineered a specific mechanism to surreptitiously pay for preparation work concerning a financing request submitted to the holding institution.
Fontinoy directed the subsidiary SFPIM International from 2010 until 2024, before the entity was absorbed into the parent organization in June 2026 as part of a group restructuring. According to the public ministry, the arrangement involved covert remuneration channeled through a non-profit association (ASBL) to compensate the advisor for drafting a funding application addressed to SFPIM.
to remunerate in a hidden manner, through payments to a non-profit organization, services for the preparation of a financing application file submitted to the SPFIM by the advisor to the chairman of the board of directors.
Public Prosecutor’s Office, via La Libre
Legal representation for Fontinoy noted that formal direct citation has not yet been served to his client and the case file remains inaccessible to the defense.
SFPIM Responds to Judicial Scrutiny
Leadership at SFPIM issued a formal statement clarifying that while Fontinoy led SFPIM International for over a decade, he never held executive responsibilities within the parent organization itself. The state-owned holding firm maintained that it has fully cooperated with judicial authorities throughout the investigation.
To our knowledge, the facts currently forming the subject of the procedure concern the activities of SFPIM International and the natural persons linked to them.
SFPIM, Corporate Statement via RTBF
The institution added that none of its current active personnel are implicated or summoned before the court in this matter, though management does not rule out taking legal steps to protect its corporate interests. The new corruption case intersects with existing legal troubles for Fontinoy, who remains charged with criminal conspiracy and document forgery in a separate money-laundering investigation surrounding Didier Reynders.
Prosecutors continue to examine additional dimensions of alleged corruption tied to SFPIM, while all individuals involved continue to benefit from the presumption of innocence ahead of the November 2026 court date.