Forgery, Use of Forgery, and Fraud

The use of false documentsto obtain credit is relatively rare, but unfortunately, it is not entirely absent from our professional practice. It is primarily a criminal offense that can lead to legal proceedings and have unfortunate consequences. A few words of explanation.

Who are the people who produce false documents?

In general, these are people who are already over-indebted and who know very well that they will no longer obtain credit. They are also people who absolutely need money and have already been refused based on their documents. In general, these are people in concerning financial situations. Simulate your credit online

False – use of false and attempts at fraud in Belgian criminal law

Article 196 of the Belgian Penal Code punishes with imprisonment from 5 to 10 years anyone who has committed forgery in private writings:

• Either by false signatures,
• Or by counterfeiting or altering writings or signatures,
• Or by fabricating agreements, provisions, obligations, or discharges or by inserting them afterward into the acts,
• Or by adding or altering clauses, declarations, or facts that these acts were intended to receive or record.

Forgery inevitably accompanies fraud or an attempt at fraud. Fraud is punishable by correctional imprisonment from one month to 5 years by Article 496 of the Belgian Penal Code.

The credit application

When you submit a credit application, you will be required at the signing of your contract to provide our brokers with certain official documents such as:

• Your identity card
• Your employment contract
• Your pay slips
• Bank account statements
• Your residence card

Our brokers check all your documents with the private and public authorities that issued them. You will not receive your money until these internal checks have taken place. Our brokers are seasoned and have the necessary experience to quickly detect forgeries. Simulate your credit online In case of production of false documents, your credit contract is blocked, and your money will not be transferred to your account, of course. We are, of course, obliged to transfer your file to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the place of your residence. In this case, you will be prosecuted before the correctional court of the judicial district in which your residence is located.

What are the most common forgeries?

The forgeries we most frequently encounter affect:

• Pay slips
• Employment contracts

Committing forgery is not a solution

Very often, people increase the amount of their salary on their pay slip. Besides the fact that our brokers quickly notice it because this amount does not match the bank account statements, the forger puts themselves in a financial situation that is not viable. They would end up not being able to repay their credit and being listed at the BNB.

Talk to our brokers

If you are experiencing financial difficulties, we encourage you to talk to our brokers if you need money and your credit application is refused, there are different solutions:

• Proceed with a consolidation or a credit buyback
• Take out a smaller credit and the following year a complementary grouped credit: if the repayment of your first premium went well, you will obtain the complement within the year.

Here are already two negotiable solutions that should help you get through a difficult time.