Immigration fraud in Luxembourg: three agents remain in post, audit expected in November
Three agents from the Directorate of Immigration targeted by the investigation remain in post due to lack of legal proceedings. An internal audit is expected after the All Saints' holiday.
Corruption at the Directorate of Immigration: parliamentary commission questions government
Three of the five agents from the General Directorate of Immigration targeted by judicial investigation continue to exercise their duties, as specified by director Jean-Paul Reiter during a parliamentary commission meeting on Wednesday. Lessentiel.lu reports that two agents are suspended, one of whom has been placed in provisional detention. The other three, in the absence of judicial decisions against them, cannot be removed due to their civil service status.
The investigation, opened in the summer of 2023, concerns charges of corruption, abuse of influence, money laundering, forgery and use of forged documents, subsidy fraud and unlawful trafficking of migrants. It targets approximately 30 people charged and resulted in searches at the General Directorate of Immigration, at the Ministry of Research and Higher Education, as well as at five companies and several private individuals.
218 suspect files prior to the investigation
Minister of Internal Affairs Léon Gloden, also present before the commission, recalled that 218 immigration files presumed to be irregular were identified for the period prior to the opening of judicial investigation. Three additional suspect files date from the period between summer 2023 and December 2023, and six others were recorded between January 2024 and today. These figures fuel questions about the delay between the emergence of initial indicators — reported as early as 2019 — and the formal opening of the investigation.
The results of the internal audit launched by Gloden within the General Directorate of Immigration are expected after the All Saints' holiday in November.
Malfunctions that would exceed the Ministry of Internal Affairs alone
The deputy Déi Gréng Meris Sehovic stated, following the meeting, that the case reveals a structural problem going beyond the Ministry of Internal Affairs. "It appears that the Ministry of National Education, in the validation of diplomas, and ADEM, concerning the market tests required before granting employment to a person from a third country, experienced malfunctions," he declared, asking why the audit is not extended to these administrations.
The question of the advisory commission's opinion, required by law prior to any negative decision on a residence permit authorisation, also fed the debates. Sehovic noted the absence of this opinion in certain files. CSV deputy Laurent Mosar clarified that the minister recalled that this opinion "is only required in case of a negative decision".
This response did not entirely satisfy the Green elected official. Gloden announced that he would shortly communicate "approximate figures" on the number of files that did not result in such an opinion. Sehovic nevertheless considers that this absence should have alerted the administration well before the opening of the investigation, believing that the situation "must raise questions about the proper governance of the administration".
The alleged fraud is believed to have enabled more than 200 nationals from third countries to enter and reside illegally in Luxembourg since 2020.
Source: Virgule