The Walloon Brabant criminal court on Tuesday sentenced Kevin M., a 27-year-old inhabitant of Jodoigne, in absentia to thirty months' imprisonment. His partner and the latter's mother, who were not present at the hearing either, received suspended sentences of eight and six months respectively. From 2016 to 2018, the accused put items up for sale on the online auction site eBay that they had no intention of sending to the buyers, in spite of payments made. The Jodoigne inhabitant is a repeat offender following previous convictions for the same type of activity.
He was in fact sentenced in Liège (two years suspended) and Brussels (one year) in 2015; both convictions were for fraud. During the March hearing in his absence, the prosecuting counsel stated that the accused appeared to have resumed his criminal activities, aided this time by in-laws.
Regarding the case before the tribunal, half a dozen of the victims have appeared in front of the Nivelles courts: they had each paid several dozen euros to obtain items that had never reached them.
Summoned several times by the police to make a statement, Kevin M. did not respond. When finally interviewed, he informed them that they, in any case, had "nothing on him." The judgement given on Tuesday showed just how wrong he was.
The Brussels Times
Thirty months' prison for Belgian eBay fraudsters
