Brussels prosecutors have requested a two-year prison sentence and a €105,000 financial penalty for Radja Nainggolan in a money-laundering case linked to an investigation into international cocaine trafficking.
The request concerns allegations against the former Roma midfielder and is not a court verdict or an imposed sentence. His lawyers intend to seek an acquittal.
Allegations concern financial transactions
According to investigators’ account, Nainggolan received more than €100,000 from Nasr-Eddine Sekkaki over several months before repaying the money through transfers to Sekkaki’s mother’s bank account.
Prosecutors allege that these transactions amounted to money laundering.
Importantly, Belgian reporting distinguishes the allegations against Nainggolan from the wider drug investigation: prosecutors do not accuse him of participating in the trafficking itself or of belonging to a criminal organisation.
Nainggolan says the money was a loan
Nainggolan has explained that he borrowed the money because his Italian bank accounts had been blocked during divorce proceedings.
His account presents the transactions as a personal borrowing arrangement, rather than knowingly assisting criminal activity. The court must assess the prosecution’s allegations alongside the defence’s arguments.
Defence hearing scheduled for November
The wider investigation began in 2023 and concerns an alleged operation importing cocaine from South America through the port of Antwerp for distribution in Belgium.
Nainggolan’s lawyers are scheduled to present their arguments on November 13, when they will seek his acquittal. The requested punishment therefore remains the prosecution’s position, with the outcome still to be determined.
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