Two Belgians officials on top gangster's hit list 02/05/2008 00:00

The French-Ivorian gangster Jean-Claude LaCote, who has escaped from prison last month, has a list of people he wants to eliminate.

2 May 2008

BELGIUM - Two Belgian officials occur on a hit list drawn up by the French-Ivorian gangster Jean-Claude LaCote. The gangster escaped from a South African jail a month ago and is still wanted by the Belgian judicial authorities.

The daily Het Laatste Nieuws reports that LaCote has drawn up a hit list containing the names of seven people he wants to kill because they have caused him problems.

Two Belgian officials are said to be on the list.

LaCote is wanted across the world. Judicial authorities in Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Luxembourg have all been seeking his extradition so that he can face charges of embezzlement and blackmail.

LaCote spent some time in Belgium in the nineties. He is wanted in connection with the killing of a British engineer, Marcus Mitchell, in De Haan in 1996. Mitchell was murdered after LaCote had defrauded him.

LaCote and his wife, Hilde Van Acker, were taken into custody in Belgium, but later fled to South Africa.

LaCote was later convicted of kidnapping, but escaped from jail with the help of accomplices impersonating police officers.

[flandersenews.be / Expatica]