Ex-EU auditor claimed expenses for holidays, hunting trips and vineyard

Karel Pinxten will lose two-thirds of his pension after EU court throws out his appeal

An auditor of EU finances accused of fraudulently claiming 570,000 in expenses for hunting trips, holidays in Cuba and Switzerland, fuel for his son's car and the purchase of a vineyard in Burgundy, will lose two-thirds of his pension after a ruling by the union's highest court.

Karel Pinxten, a former Belgian government minister, was paid 17,000 a month after tax when he worked as a member of the EU's court of auditors for 12 years. On Thursday his appeal against the cut to his pension, on right to privacy grounds among others, was thrown out by the European court of justice (ECJ).