Trial of “fake Belgian residents”: Christian Carpinelli sentenced to three years in prison and €100,000 fine
©Monaco Tribune
On Tuesday 28 October, Monaco Criminal Court delivered its verdict in the so-called “fake Belgian residents” case. Former Divisional Police Commissioner Christian Carpinelli has been heavily sentenced.
After two weeks of hearings last June and several months of anticipation, Monaco’s justice system has ruled in this case, which has been making waves in the Principality since October 2016. Carpinelli, former head of the Residency Section in the Administrative Police Division until 2013, was sentenced to three years in prison and €100,000 in fines for complicity in the unlawful issuance of administrative documents, passive and active corruption, influence peddling, and money laundering. The sentence is less than the four years in prison and €180,000 fine requested by the public prosecutor.
The case, which dates back to the late 1980s, spans nearly three decades. Carpinelli is alleged to have created a system allowing fourteen Belgian nationals and one Swiss national to obtain Monegasque residence permits, granting them a favourable tax status. The stated goal: to avoid taxation in their home countries. At the centre of the scheme was Pierre Salik, a Belgian businessman specialising in jeans production, who died in January 2025 at the age of 95. Having benefited from the system since 1987, he is alleged to have then facilitated access for relatives and family members, aided by the complicity of the former police officer. Even after his retirement in 2013, Carpinelli is said to have continued acting as an intermediary until 2016.
Other convictions
- Jean-Louis Coletti, director of the real estate agency Immobilia 2000, which managed the apartments used as fictitious addresses, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a €100,000 fine.
- Bernadette Lacrampe, Carpinelli’s ex-wife, prosecuted for complicity in money laundering, received a 12-month suspended prison sentence and a €20,000 fine.
- Serge Denis, Carpinelli’s successor as head of the residents service, was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a €20,000 fine.
- André Cardinali and Marco di Giovanni were each handed a six-month suspended prison sentence and €5,000 fines.
Among the other defendants, one was exempted from punishment and the cases against a further three were dismissed.