The use of false documents in order to obtain credit is relatively rare but unfortunately it is not completely absent from our professional practice. It is above all a criminal offense which can lead to legal proceedings and have unfortunate consequences. A few words of explanation.
Who are the people producing false documents?
In general, these are people who are already over-indebted and who know full well that they will no longer obtain credit. These are also people who absolutely need money and who have already been refused on the basis of their documents. In general, these are people in worrying financial situations.
Forgery – use of forgery and attempted fraud in Belgian criminal law
Article 196 of the Belgian Penal Code punishes with imprisonment of 5 to 10 years any person who commits forgery of private documents:
- Either by false signatures,
- Either by counterfeiting or alteration of writings or signatures,
- Either by manufacturing agreements, provisions, obligations or discharges or by their insertion after the fact in the acts,
- Either by addition or alteration of clauses, declarations or facts that these acts were intended to receive or note.
Counterfeiting is inevitably accompanied by fraud or attempted fraud. Fraud is punishable by correctional imprisonment of one month to 5 years under article 496 of the Belgian Penal Code.
The credit application
When you submit a credit request, you will be obliged when signing your contract to provide our brokers with certain official documents such as:
- Your identity card
- Your employment contract
- Your salary slips
- Bank account statements
- Your residence card
Our brokers check all your documents with the private and public authorities who issued them. You do not receive your money until these internal checks have taken place.
Our brokers are seasoned and have the experience necessary to detect fakes quickly.
Simulate your credit online
If false documents are produced, your credit contract is blocked and your money will not be paid into your account of course. We are of course obliged to transfer your file to the Crown Prosecutor’s Office where you live. In this case, you will be prosecuted before the criminal court of the judicial district in which your residence is located.
What are the most common fakes?
The fakes we encounter most frequently affect:
- Salary slips
- Employment contracts
Committing a 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 this because this amount does not correspond to the bank account statements, the forger puts himself in a financial situation that is not viable.
He would end up no longer being able to repay his credit and end up being registered with the BNB.
Chat with our brokers
If you are experiencing financial difficulties, we encourage you to discuss with our brokers. If you need money and your credit application is refused, there are different solutions:
- Carry out a credit consolidation or repurchase
- Make a smaller credit and the following year a consolidated additional credit: if the reimbursement of your first premium went well, you will obtain the supplement within the year.
Here are already two negotiable solutions which should allow you to get out of a difficult moment.
