Former Train World employee embezzled €1 million from museum

A former accountant at Train World railway museum in Brussels has been convicted of embezzling a total of €1.06 million over a period of five years.

The fraud was first uncovered in April 2021 - at the close of the 2020 financial year - and the employee was convicted in 2023, but news of the sentence has only just been made public by Belgian railway company SNCB.

According to Flemish broadcaster VRT, the accountant drew up fictitious incoming invoices from 2016 to March 2021, “acting alone, purely in their own interest, and was no longer part of the SNCB staff when the facts were established”, according to the railway company.

The employee was said to have a gambling addiction and told VRT that they felt “ashamed” and did not become wealthy as a result of the embezzlement.

After the discovery, the company conducted an internal investigation, an internal audit and a tightening of internal control mechanisms.

Train World and SNCB both filed a complaint against the employee, who was ordered in court to repay the stolen money in full. Part of that amount has already been received, according to reports.