Niels Vos

Niels Vos is a highly dedicated lawyer, specialised in white-collar crime (money laundering, falsification of documents, tax and financial fraud, embezzlement, violation of particular criminal laws, etc.). He represents a wide range of companies and corporate executives from all economic sectors. He assists both suspects and aggrieved parties in every phase of the criminal proceedings.

Niels Vos holds a Master of Laws Degree at KU Leuven (2014, cum laude). During his studies, he also studied a semester at the University of Stockholm (2013) and obtained a certificate in International Criminal Justice at VU Amsterdam (2014). Before being admitted to the Limburg Bar in 2015, Niels gained hands-on experience in complex international criminal cases at the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Niels won the pleading competition at the (then) Hasselt Bar and represented his bar at the Inter-Limburg Pleading Competition in Kerkrade (the Netherlands). Niels was admitted to the Brussels Bar in 2018.

Niels obtained the certificate for the Special Training on Cassation Proceedings in Criminal Cases (2018), which is required in criminal cases to plead before the Belgian Supreme Court. He also successfully completed the SUPRALAT Training on Strengthening suspect’s right in pre-trial proceedings through practice-oriented training for lawyers (2020). He is therefore perfectly equipped to assist clients from the very beginning of a criminal investigation to the proceedings before the highest courts. Niels is also experienced in strategies resulting in out-of-court solutions such as an amicable settlement under criminal law. His goal is always to resolve disputes before they escalate and, if litigation becomes inevitable, to win cases or obtain the best outcome for his clients.

Niels’s practice does not only cover criminal investigations and prosecutions. He also assists clients in investigations conducted by other bodies, such as the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA). Even before the authorities have started any investigation, he performs a risk-analysis for his clients and discusses the most appropriate strategy. Furthermore, he assists companies in criminal due diligence and compliance programmes.

As of 2018, Niels has been affiliated with Arcas Law, a leading independent law firm that focuses on risk management and dispute resolution. Since criminal cases often also have civil aspects, the collaboration at Arcas Law between litigation experts in different fields, results in a full service at top quality.

Niels speaks at seminars on the criminal aspects of anti-money laundering and tax fraud and has published about criminal procedure.
A few examples of recent cases he handled include:
• Assisting the Belgian branch of a multinational corporation in a criminal investigation regarding alleged multimillion-euro VAT fraud and falsification of documents;
• Representing an auditor before the Sanctions Committee of the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA);
• Advising of foreign investors in a criminal investigation concerning an alleged international stock fraud scheme;
• Legal assistance to a company in the recovery of stolen assets.