The Hainaut Court of Appeal confirmed, on Wednesday, a judgment sentencing a notary to a one-year suspended prison sentence, accompanied by a fine of 12,000 euros for forgery, use of forgery and misappropriation. Contrary to the court of first instance, the court sentenced the notarial company to pay a fine of 60,000 euros. However, this fine is suspended for three years.
Each year, the notary had to present his balance sheet to the Chamber of Notaries. In order to hide the financial difficulties of his study, large sums were taken from third-party accounts, to be deposited in a current account in order to inflate the turnover of the study.
For the notarial checks, it was impossible to realize the catastrophic situation in which the notarial office found itself.
However, a transfer of 177,000 euros caught the attention of controllers because no deed was passed on June 30, 2013, the day the balance sheets were filed with the Chamber of Notaries. This sum was deposited the next day in a third-party account.
The Chamber of Notaries of Hainaut notified the public prosecutor of a suspicion of fraud. A meticulous control of the accounts was then carried out. The study had a deficit of more than 300,000 euros.
In February 2015, the notary was suspended from his duties. On April 15, 2021, a judgment of the Court of Cassation dismissed him.
