The Caritas Luxembourg Board of Directors announced the implementation of a crisis committee, during an interview on Monday with Luxembourg's Radio 100,7.

The crisis committee will be presided by Christian Billon, who is renowned for his financial and social sector expertise. Employees at the NGO were notified in advance through an internal memo.

Billon will be joined by four other members including Marie-Josée Jacobs, president of the Caritas' board of directors.

The board of directors has mandated the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to offer assistance to the crisis committee in their work.

Background: €60 million embezzlement scandal

On 19 July, news broke that Caritas Luxembourg was facing financial crisis following a major internal embezzlement scandal which also affected the Cécile Ginter Foundation and the non-profit Caritas Accueil et Solidarité.

In the days that followed the director general of the Caritas Foundation, Marc Crochet, filed a criminal complaint for misappropriation of funds. A few days later, the public prosecutor's office announced that a person had turned themselves in to the judiciary police as a result of the ongoing investigation.

While Crochet said salaries would be guaranteed thanks to the association's reserves, unions have expressed concern for the several hundred employees who work for the non-profit. The OGBL union demanded the preservation of jobs and subsequently held an information evening detailing the rights of affected staff.
 
The government meanwhile has said it has no trust in the way Caritas is presently structured. Prime Minister Frieden noted that the government's focus at present would be on ensuring that essential services offered by the organisation remain unaffected, a sentiment later echoed by Minister of Housing Claude Meisch. However, Frieden also stated that the government would not, in the present moment, provide "a single Euro" to Caritas.