Belgian Lawyer Acquitted in Swiss Money Laundering Case Tied to Beer Empire Fortune

In the 2000s in Brussels, the lawyer met a certain Luka Bailo, 65, who had married the 80-year-old Viscountess Amicie de Spoelberch in 2001, heiress to the InBev brewing empire (Stella Artois, Jupiler, Leffe, Hoegaarden, Corona, Budweiser...). Luka Bailo died in 2004, leaving two adopted sons, Alexis and Patrice Bailo de Spoelberch, who became heirs to a colossal fortune overnight, even before the Viscountess’ death in 2008, reports La Dernière Heure.

Fara Chorfi continued to defend the interests of the two sons until the day the Bailo heirs decided to make her life a living hell. The lawyer was arrested while on vacation in Greece, placed under an arrest warrant and then detained for ten months between 2017 and 2018. The Bailo de Spoelberch sons accused her of having taken 815,000 bearer shares of the company InBev, then called Interbrew, of having deposited the securities in various accounts in Switzerland and of having laundered them through offshore companies. From 22.5 million euros at the time, the value of the shares reached 66 million in 2020.

Acquitted of theft and money laundering in 2016, Fara Chorfi was nevertheless found guilty of attempted will fraud and sentenced by the Luxembourg court to a suspended prison sentence. The case is now closed. In 2019, the lawyer was also found guilty of aggravated money laundering, considered a crime in Switzerland, by the Geneva criminal court, which felt that she "had great manipulation skills". Fara Chorfi was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, 15 months of which were suspended.

The lawyer appealed the decision, a procedure that lasted two years. The Swiss public prosecutor’s office requested 4 years in prison against her. But the Geneva Court of Appeal has just acquitted her. A victory for her lawyers from the Mangeat firm. Fara Chorfi will recover her 35 million euros handed over to the Bailo sons, as well as 327,600 shares worth nearly 23 million euros, to which are added 30 million for the capital gain realized between 2004 and 2020. Her defense in Belgium announces possible "legal proceedings to obtain compensation for the immeasurable damage" she has suffered for more than ten years.