PostNL Belgium CEO arrested after human trafficking, forgery scheme investigation: Report

The Belgian police arrested Rudy van Rillaer, the CEO of PostNL Belgium, local newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reported. The Dutch parent company PostNL confirmed that the police took several colleagues in for questioning but did not say who.

The Belgian police arrested nine people in raids at PostNL depots on Monday. A spokesperson for PostNL Belgium said that three of the nine are still in custody. Het Laatste Nieuws reported that Van Rillaer is one of them. The "operations manager" is also still incarcerated.

According to Het Laatste Nieuws, the three are accused of leading a criminal organization involved in human trafficking and forgery. The court will decide on their pre-trial detention on Friday, the newspaper said.

The postal company's two depots in Wommelgem and Willebroek remain closed. The packages in them can't be delivered for the time being. PostNL has been under investigation by the Belgian authorities for some time because of alleged abuses related to undeclared work and part-time work. In November, the depot in Wommelgem was also closed for multiple days.

PostNL currently has nine parcel depots in Belgium and one sorting center.