Tom Cochez

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM — Scientific publications, leaked company data and government data suggest that industry is doing everything possible to deliberately put up a fog curtain around these ultra short PFAS.

ANTWERPEN/ROTTERDAM - The social damage of air pollution caused by the (petro)chemical sector in the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam runs into billions of euros. This is according to an investigation by Apache and Follow The Money based on official figures on emissions and transfer of pollutants from large industrial facilities.

BRUSSELS - For years, the Belgian political world rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin and his oligarchs. That truth is now becoming all the more painfully clear.

BRUSSELS - In the almost built-up Flanders (northern region of Belgium), land is a precious commodity. Who are the large landowners who own hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of hectares of land in Flanders? Who are the real estate investors who own whole streets in cities or have their eye on certain neighbourhoods? Why do they do it? What is the return?

ANTWERP - Documents that Apache and Le Vif were able to look into show how Erik Van der Paal - the protegee of N-VA chairman and mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever - and his Dutch companion Marc Schaling extracted millions of euros from Land Invest for six years. All this time, the project developer could count on political support for controversial building projects in Antwerp.

Research by Apache shows how 'chronic fatigue specialist' Kenny De Meirleir sells his patients, through numerous small companies, often controversially expensive tests and medication that he prescribes himself.

BELGIUM - What do politicians think about media and political reporting? In recent months, Apache.be has spoken with the party chairmen of the liberal party Open VLD, the Christian democratic party CD&V, the socialist party Sp.a and the green party Groen and with various media specialists and communication staff of those parties.

Apache.be’s Tom Cochez spent two years investigating the remarkable relation between Vlaams Belang, its top people and money. Dozens of conversations with people who have been involved with the party since the early days, who were or still are in the heart of the party and who witnessed things with their own eyes, paint an alarming picture of the money machine behind Vlaams Belang and raise one question: why does the party systematically overpay friends in the printing business, sponsors’ companies or organisations of its own party members?