Leo De Smedt, a scion of the brewers’ family that sold the Affligem Brewery to the Dutch conglomerate Heineken has been sentenced to 30 months in jail. Fellow fraudster Hans Velle even received a 6-year custodial sentence. The two conmen have also been ordered to pay their victims over 1.5 million euros in compensation.
Leo De Smedt is a well-known figure in the Opwijk area of Flemish Brabant. He is now in his seventies and over the past decade has been eager to tell all and sundry about his ambition of repurchasing the famous Affligem Brewery that his relatives sold to Heineken around the turn of the century.
De Smedt approached scores of people and convinced 23 of them, including numerous relatives, to hand over cash totalling 3.2 million euros.
“He borrowed large sums claiming he planned to repurchase the brewery. He abused the good name of his family and promised everybody they would get their money back within 3 months and with a 5% premium! Everything was written down on paper making him very convincing” say prosecutors.
In the end it became clear the lenders had been the victim of a major scam. No talks were ever initiated with Heineken and the money had all disappeared.
The investigation revealed Leo De Smedt had worked with master-fraudster Hans Velle to elaborate the con. In the past Velle has repeatedly been convicted of similar offences. He was sentenced to 6 years in jail.