“I have done nothing illegal and I regret that my name and my reputation are mentioned when these fraudulent practices are mentioned,” Mr. De Croo writes on his web page.
In this message, Herman De Croo emphasizes that he has nothing to do with the fraud case in which several senior officials of the House of Representatives wrongly received an additional pension allowance. “According to the information currently available to me, these senior civil servants received an additional pension in flagrant violation of the Wijninckx law. These payments have since been stopped. It is up to the public treasury to recover them. I have nothing to do with this fraud case”.
Herman De Croo goes on to write that he was never involved in the decision to introduce bonuses in addition to pensions, but pointed out that this remuneration is voted on every year in the House of Representatives and that all deputies are therefore informed. “I accept the cessation of payment of this retirement allowance. I will donate the amount received to the Cancer Foundation,” said De Croo.
The former President of the Chamber received since July 1, 2019 an allowance then amounting to 4,566 euros gross per month. It then rose to 5,560 euros gross per month.