After conviction, notary Karine Reuter wants to appeal

Karine Reuter was convicted of real estate transactions within two weeks. On Thursday, February 6th, the notary was sentenced to a fine of 20,000 euros, « because she had not fulfilled her commitment to combat money laundering and had made it easier to misuse weakness, » as the « country » reported. An information that « Virgule » had confirmed, after she had seen the judgment of the district court of Luxembourg. In this case it was a suspicious sale in Neudorf.

A week later, on Thursday, February 13th, Karine Reuter was convicted in a further case of real estate transactions with dubious investors from Azerbaijan. The district court in Luxembourg sentenced her to a fine of 100,000 euros because she had violated her duty of care.

Will Karin Reuter withdraw from business?

At the request of « Virgule », Reuter's lawyer Lydie Lorang said that her client « certainly intends to appeal against both judgments ». Does Karin Reuter intend to withdraw from her activities until the appointment is decided? Does she fear that her reputation could be damaged by the cases mentioned? The lawyer did not want to answer these questions. Also, she did not want to react to the allegations that her client had violated her duty of care in the case of dubious investments from Azerbaijan.

According to the public prosecutor, Karine Reuter « violated her duty of care and in particular the above law, which obliges the notary to check the completed business in particular for the origin of the funds ». It is intended to violate this obligation to the customers of two companies mentioned « as part of transactions on the purchase of real estate packages with a total investment of more than three million euros ».

How does the emergency chamber react to these cases? Will she take disciplinary measures against Karine Reuter? The President of the Chamber of Notary, Edouard Delosch, replied to a request from the « Luxemburger Word »: « The necessary measures are taken. I would like to point out that the judgments of the courts can be appealed. « 

This article first appeared on « Virgule » / Translation and revision: Nadine Schartz