The young scammer, the fictitious job and… the candy trap

The press revealed that Etterbeek’s PS alderwoman for Education, Equal Opportunities, Anti-Discrimination and International Solidarity, Colette Njomgang Fonkeu, employed for seven months a political collaborator who is now suspected of forgery, identity fraud, scams, social fraud, and even a violent home-jacking involving a 15-year-old.

The story is already astonishing… but the explanations she gives are even more surreal.

A spontaneous recruitment… at a flea market

In La Capitale (11 October 2025), the alderwoman explains that she essentially hired the young man after he approached her at… a flea market.

She admits he did not have the required qualifications, but says he confided his study difficulties. She adds:

“Honestly, I felt sad for him and I thought I could do without a qualified collaborator for a year, and do the work myself if needed.”

However, the CPAS offers proper, supervised, and equitable mechanisms for students in financial difficulty – precisely to prevent such abuses.

Funding allocated to political staff is not a personal purse: it is meant to support the management of municipal policy.

A management which, in this case, barely existed: between February and September 2025, the alderwoman submitted only 3 dossiers, while the council handled 463.

A ghost collaborator manipulating everyone

According to early press reports, the young man:

• used the alderwoman’s identity several times,
• outsourced most of his work to a young woman hired under a fake contract,
• had access to sensitive information.

What about data confidentiality?

Who accessed the school registers?

For what purposes?

Did he, directly or indirectly, participate in public decisions or budget allocations?

The number of questions is growing faster than the answers.

The “iconic moment”: the case of… the stolen candies

The most surreal moment is the alderwoman’s supposed first doubt:

“I began to suspect something when sweets and bottles of water disappeared from Alderman Van Bockstael’s office…”

She first accused him of racism before admitting:

“He wasn’t racist, he was realistic!”

Quite an atmosphere…

For the Ecolo-Groen group, this is unacceptable

We demanded explanations and answers at the October council meeting. What is happening in Etterbeek? 💚

How could a scammer:

• be hired without any procedure,
• work without supervision,
• impersonate the alderwoman,
• be involved in public dossiers,
• and even bring in a collaborator under a fake contract?

The lack of oversight raises serious concerns.

🚨 Nothing about this is acceptable — neither the facts nor the explanations.

Today, it is urgent to:

• clarify the full extent of the damage,
• assess the risks for residents,
• understand how such a failure was even possible,
• ensure this can never happen again.

💚 To respond, the mayor decided to hold the discussion behind closed doors. The information provided — far from satisfactory — will therefore remain confidential until the judiciary sheds full light on the case.