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Colombian authorities have taken possession of 11 luxury assets, including five high-end boutique hotels, from Belgian aristocrat Henri de Croÿ as part of an asset forfeiture process targeting a transnational money laundering network, officials said.
The state-run Special Assets Society (Sociedad de Activos Especiales (SAE) - in charge of managing forfeited assets - seized the properties in Cartagena and Barú, in the north of the country, following a court-ordered precautionary measure sought by a specialized asset forfeiture unit with Attorney General’s Office.
The sweeping judicial action targets the corporate structures of Casa Córdoba S.A.S., Persoc Group and Falur Corp. Legal measures were also levied individually against de Croÿ’s wife, Maria del Rosario Patiño Córdoba, a Colombian citizen originally from Popayán.
Among the seized commercial holdings are five distinct boutique hotels: Hotel Casa Barú, Hotel Casa Córdoba Estrella, Hotel Casa Córdoba Román, Hotel Casa Córdoba Cuartel and the events space Hotel Casa Córdoba Cabal. Authorities also seized three commercial vehicles registered to the network, including a 2020 Foton pickup truck and two 2021 TVS motorized tricycles.
The state’s enforcement action builds directly on a landmark June 2022 investigation published by OCCRP and its Colombian partner, 070, a media outlet out of the University of the Andes. Titled “How a Belgian Aristocrat Under Investigation for Money Laundering Moved Millions Into Colombia,” the investigation documented how de Croÿ discreetly built a secret real estate network in the Colombian Caribbean while actively under the radar of European justice authorities.
Drawing on thousands of corporate registries, emails and notary files, the 2022 investigation revealed that de Croÿ used offshore companies, tax havens and complex corporate structures to conceal the true ownership of his assets and move funds allegedly derived from tax fraud. Until the investigation’s publication, European investigators tracking de Croÿ were entirely unaware of his multi-million dollar Colombian holdings.
De Croÿ, a descendant of European nobility often dubbed the “Black Prince,” first drew widespread international law enforcement scrutiny during the 2018 “Dubai Papers” leak. The leaked files exposed Helin International, a financial services network he operated. Colombian authorities noted the firm remains under investigation in Belgium, France and Switzerland for orchestrating large-scale tax evasion on behalf of scores of rich clients and money laundering.
While de Croÿ holds Belgian, French and Colombian citizenship and faces no criminal convictions in Colombia, authorities initiated the asset forfeiture under suspicion that the real estate portfolio was funded by illicit capital moved to South America to shield it from international scrutiny.
With the successful execution of the seizure, the hospitality network will remain under state administration while final legal proceedings determine its permanent disposition.
