Prosecutors seek two years in prison for former Belgium player Radja Nainggolan

Prosecutors seek two years

On Friday, 30 October 2026, Brussels prosecutors asked the Brussels correctional court for two years in prison against Radja Nainggolan, the former Belgium international. According to the prosecution, he helped launder money for a criminal organisation, and Le Soir puts the sum at 105,500 euros. For the other defendants, prosecutors requested sentences ranging from 12 months to 14 years. The case concerns alleged cocaine imports from South America into Europe through the port of Antwerp. Nainggolan is not suspected of involvement in drug trafficking itself, and he told police he had nothing to do with drugs.

How the money changed hands

Nainggolan received more than 100,000 euros from Nasr-Eddine Sekkaki, the younger brother of the criminal Ashraf Sekkaki, within a few months. De Standaard reports the payments came in seven instalments, and that Nainggolan later paid the money back into the bank account of the mother of the Sekkaki brothers. He first said he had lent the money to Sekkaki out of friendship. He later admitted he had received it because his accounts had been blocked after his divorce, and he told investigators he wanted to keep up his lifestyle and needed cash. After his arrest, he said of the blocked accounts:

“I have no debts, but because of my divorce from Claudia my Italian accounts were blocked.”

Police operation and seizures

The Brussels court opened the investigation in March 2023, and detectives spent months listening in on conversations and carrying out observations. In late January 2025, the federal judicial police in Brussels carried out 30 searches, mainly in Antwerp province and Brussels, and arrested 18 people. Nainggolan, then 38, was arrested on 27 January 2025 and spent one night in a police cell. Officers also seized 330,430 euros in cash, 2.7 kilograms of cocaine, several luxury watches and fourteen vehicles. In a hotel room in Antwerp they found 100 gold coins worth 116,522 euros, 40,000 euros in cash and a bag of cocaine.

Casinos and the alleged network

Nainggolan told police he regularly visited casinos, and according to documents that Nieuwsblad obtained, he estimated he had lost four million euros in total in Monte Carlo. He also said he was a regular at the roulette and poker tables of the Viage casino in Brussels. According to the prosecution, a central figure identified only as S.A. is living in Dubai, while his brothers or cousins allegedly handled the drug trade in Belgium. Nainggolan was not suspected of drug trafficking, and the prosecution's case centres on the money he received.

Court and co-defendants

In March 2026 the Brussels chamber of council dropped the case against three people and sent 16 others to the correctional court. De Morgen reports that 16 people in total are on trial, and that the proceedings started on Friday, 30 October 2026.

Searches (late January 2025)30

Arrests (late January 2025)18

Defendants on trial16

Searches (late January 2025)

30

Arrests (late January 2025)

18

Defendants on trial

16

Data from the article text

Nasr-Eddine Sekkaki is among those named in the trial, while De Standaard recalls that Ashraf Sekkaki escaped from prison by helicopter in Bruges in 2009 and is serving time in a Moroccan prison. During his police interrogation, Nainggolan said of Sekkaki:

“I found him normal and modest, I cannot say anything bad about him.”

He said he had only learned of Sekkaki's reputation from media coverage after his arrest.