Allen & Overy’s Belgian office has been raided by Belgian authorities as part of an investigation into a former client, speech recognition company Lernout & Hauspie.
The raid, ordered by a Belgian judge, took place last week following the arrest and extradition of Lernout’s chief executive Gaston Bastiaens on charges of fraud, insider trading, stock manipulation and accounting violations.
Two of Lernout’s founders Jo Lernout and Pol Hauspie and former executive Nico Willaert have also been arrested as part of the Belgian investigation.
Brussels-based A&O partner Louis Verbeke confirmed that A&O had advised Lernout on Belgian law but declined to comment further.
A Belgian court last week threw out restructuring proposals and extended its protection from creditors, in relation to the Nasdaq-listed Lernout, until October.
Verbeke is the former name partner of Benelux firm Loeff Claeys, Verbeke’s Belgian arm, which merged with A&O in November 2000.
Click on ‘email news’ at www.legalweek.net to be alerted to breaking news stories.
