2023-12-19 10:43:01
The mayor of Moorslede (West Flanders) Ward Vergote was sentenced to one year in prison on Tuesday by the Kortrijk criminal court. The man bought agricultural land in 2017 which he then resold at double the price. The judge, however, saw no reason to dismiss the mayor from office.
The subject of the case is agricultural land sold at a public sale for the sum of 192,000 euros. The sellers had inherited the land. When the deed was signed at the notary, it turned out that the buyer was the mayor of Moorslede Ward Vergote.
It emerged a few months later that the area in which the land was located was likely to be reclassified as an industrial zone reserved for craft businesses. The sellers were not aware of this information at the time of the sale. They argued that the mayor knew regarding it and that it was precisely for this reason that he had purchased the land. A little later, he was able to sell this space for 400,000 euros. Mr. Vergote proclaimed his innocence. According to his lawyer, the mayor did not have information on the rezoning plans.
The Kortrijk criminal court considered that Mr. Vergote had mixed his private interests with his public function. “The possibility of profiting from this land is enough. (…) These are serious offenses,” said the judge. Ward Vergote was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 8,000 euros. A sum of 25,000 euros was also seized. The family who sold him the agricultural land requested compensation of 208,000 euros, but this was not granted by the court.
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