2023-09-26 04:24:00
The information had the effect of a bomb. A scandal broke out at the courthouse, Place Poelaert. It was 2013, ten years ago. A lawyer, accused of exploiting poverty, was sent behind bars. The press headlined: “The slumlord lawyer sleeps in prison”.
Except that ten years later, the Brussels Court of Appeal has sorted things out and set the record straight. Contrary to what was alleged, Olivier Boon is not, was not and never was a slumlord. In the meantime, his reputation was made. He experienced infamy. The affair ruined his career. Although he left the bar, the former lawyer, now 59 years old, has bounced back, incredibly. We found him. His testimony will shock. Here is his story.
Investigation
A lawyer since 1996, Olivier Boon managed a dozen buildings in the Brussels region, mainly in Etterbeek, Ixelles, Saint-Gilles, Forest and Koekelberg. According to what was claimed, the housing was overused in frightening conditions.
At least these were the conclusions of the investigation carried out by the Brussels police and the DIRL – the Directorate of the Regional Housing Inspectorate. The buildings, most of them dilapidated, were divided, so as to make them profitable, into cramped furnished apartments. Many did not exceed 20 m2. No space was wasted. We went so far as to transform the cellars and attics to accommodate people.
Housing was made unsanitary by humidity, mold, the presence of pests, rodents, the state of the sanitary facilities and sometimes the absence of heating and hot water. A building was at risk of collapse. Others, dangers linked to the connection to town gas or electrical wiring.
This had been going on for years. And it was profitable. Put together, the rents represented a fortune.
The survey identified 85 tenants, mostly from Portugal, the DRC and Algeria.
Of these, seven became civil parties while Olivier Boon was charged with “abuse of the vulnerability of others by the rental of accommodation in conditions incompatible with human dignity”, and placed under arrest for three months.
The cleaver
At the first trial, the lawyer was literally massacred. Olivier Boon was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment (partly suspended) and a fine of 5,500 euros to be multiplied by the number of tenants identified, i.e. 467,500 euros. Financially, the judge still sentenced him to confiscation of nearly 1.5 million euros. In total, Olivier Boon had 1,911,840.58 euros. And that’s not all: the judge gave him one year to put the twelve buildings “in decent condition”, at his own expense.
New lawyers
Olivier Boon appealed. Specialist lawyers Pierre Chomé and Samuel Rosenblatt would now defend him. The defense consisted of establishing that although the state of the accommodation might certainly leave something to be desired, none might be considered “contrary to human dignity”.
What, moreover, does “human dignity” consist of according to the law? This is where the court of appeal will note that the legislation relating to slumlords does not define the notion of “human dignity” and does not set any criteria, leaving it to the judge to examine “in soul and conscience the living and accommodation conditions of the victims, to determine whether or not these conditions are contrary to human dignity.
The lawyers demonstrated that contrary to the allegations, Olivier Boon was not disinterested in the state of the housing but on the contrary, was attentive to it, carrying out work that he had certified by approved organizations, including AIB Vinçotte.
Another argument carried weight: the accommodation was visited, controlled and inspected by the social services of the CPAS, who had never found fault. At the time, in December 2013, the DH giving the floor to Olivier Boon, had already headlined: “If I am indicted, dozens of CPAS must be”.
And finally
Agreeing that it is not indisputable that the housing “presented numerous disorders, some of which were the result of dilapidation”, the Brussels Court of Appeal will consider that it cannot be excluded that “certain disorders observed resulted from the inappropriate behavior of certain occupants”. In the end, she concluded that “it has not been established” that Olivier Boon rented the premises “in conditions incompatible with human dignity”.
The former lawyer is therefore acquitted on this point. He was not a slumlord.
Ten years later, he received a ‘simple’ work sentence for having – the only complaint upheld – infringed urban planning regulations. In particular, by modifying the interior of buildings without having obtained the required authorizations.
The former lawyer was still suspected of having concealed 624,000 euros in rent from the tax authorities: he was also acquitted on this. So that, coming back from afar, he escapes the fine of 467,500 euros as well as the confiscation of 1,444,840.56 euros pronounced by the first judge.
His testimony
Olivier Boon agreed to respond. The image of justice does not come out enhanced. “The file,” he said, “was 20,000 pages long. I faced ten years of proceedings including two attempts by the investigating judge to force a public sale of ALL my movable and immovable property. I had to wait four years to finally obtain, in 2017, on the third attempt following two categorical refusals from the same investigating judge, the completion of additional essential duties in my defense. These duties will also only be carried out piecemeal by the PJF. Thus a confrontation cannot be carried out because the police officer responsible for organizing it will wait so long that the person I asked to be confronted with will die in the meantime. As for my first lawyer, let’s talk regarding it, he refused, while I was in preventive detention, to transmit an essential document to the investigating judge. Fortunately, I replaced this lawyer with the Chomé law firm. It turned out that this document was indeed so essential that the court of appeal will retain it for the acquittal of the slumlord’s charge.
It’s violent to hear this. Is this how justice works in Belgium?
His new life
The affair ruined his career. Olivier Boon has abandoned the bar. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Lamenting would have served no purpose. The former lawyer bounced back by launching into coaching. He created, in Rixensart, the agency ‘Sky4DLimit’, specializing in physical and personal life coaching ([email protected]/0475696307, editor’s note)
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