A Romanian has been sentenced by a court in Belgium to a fine of 1.8 million euros for alcohol excise fraud.

The Correctional Court in Hasselt, Belgium, has sentenced a 69-year-old Romanian to a fine of 1.8 million euros in a case of alcohol excise fraud. The man, who lives in the United Kingdom and is serving a sentence in Spain, was involved in a network that evaded excise payments for hundreds of shipments of alcoholic beverages, totaling approximately 5.4 million liters of beer.

Belgian prosecutors requested a fine of 9 million euros, but the court decided on a lower penalty, considering it proportional to the offenses. The court also took into account the man's previous convictions for similar crimes, including a 30-month prison sentence and a fine of 32.7 million euros in 2021.

The trial took place in the absence of the defendant, who is incarcerated in Spain. This conviction is part of a series of investigations conducted by Belgian authorities to combat tax fraud in the trade of excise goods.