The British embassy in Antwerp has launched an investigation following a fire that tore through an apartment block in the city's docks district, killing five people. Sources confirm that the blaze, which broke out in the early hours of Tuesday morning, is being treated as suspicious. Uncovered documents suggest that the building was owned by a shell company registered in the British Virgin Islands, a known conduit for money laundering.
The embassy's involvement raises questions about the extent of British corporate interests in the property. One victim has been identified as a British national, a 34-year-old accountant named David Thorpe who had been working for a firm with ties to a London-based hedge fund. Investigators are focusing on the building's electrical system, which had been flagged for safety violations three months ago but was never repaired.
A source in the Antwerp police told me that the repair contract was awarded to a subsidiary of a company now under investigation for bribery in Eastern Europe. The fire chief on the scene described the blaze as a 'firestorm' that spread through the building's internal cladding at an alarming speed. He refused to confirm whether the cladding was imported from Britain, but documents leaked to this newsroom show that a British firm supplied the materials.
The embassy's role in the investigation is unusual. Typically, they would offer consular assistance, but here they are actively participating in the forensic analysis. A diplomatic cable, obtained under a freedom of information request, reveals that the Foreign Office has classified the incident as a 'potential security threat'.
Why? Because one of the victims was connected to a British intelligence contractor. The contractor's name is redacted, but the cable mentions the words 'financial irregularities' and 'offshore accounts'.
The fire is not the first tragedy at this address. Three years ago, a man fell from a tenth-floor window. The death was ruled a suicide, but the case was never closed.
The man was an accountant too. He worked for the same firm as David Thorpe. That firm, EuroSynergy Management, has been the subject of three separate fraud investigations in the past five years.
All were dropped. The company's directors include a former member of the British parliament who now sits on the board of an investment bank in the City of London. The fire has thrown a spotlight on the web of corruption that connects Antwerp's port to London's financial district.
The embassy is not commenting. Their press officer said only that they are 'providing support to Belgian authorities'. But my sources tell me that the British ambassador has personally intervened to ensure that a specific fire investigator from Scotland Yard is brought in.
Why would they need a British investigator on Belgian soil? That is the story I am chasing now. The countdown to a scandal has begun.
