The mayor of the West Flemish municipality of Moorslede has been given a one-year suspended prison sentence by the Criminal Court in Kortrijk (also West Flanders). In 2017, Ward Vergote (liberal) bought a piece of agricultural land, which he then resold at double the price.
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One-year suspended prison sentence for a mayor found guilty of conflict of interest
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Despite having convicted the politician, the trial judge saw no reason to remove the mayor from office and he retains his political rights.
The case centred around a plot of farmland sold at public auction in 2017 for 192,000 euro. The vendors had inherited the land. When the deed for the sale of the land was signed at the notary's office, it transpired that the buyer was the Mayor of Moorslede Ward Vergote.
A few months later, it emerged that the area in which the land was located was likely to be reclassified as an industrial area reserved for craft businesses. The sellers were not aware of this information at the time of the sale. They argued that the mayor was aware of this and that it was the reason why he had bought the land. Mayor Vergote was later able to sell the land for 400,000 euro.
At his trial Ward Vergote maintained his innocence. According to his lawyer, the mayor had no information about the rezoning plans. However, the Kortrijk Criminal Court ruled that the Mayor of Moorslede had mixed his private interests with his public duties.
Ward Vergote was given a one-year suspended prison sentence and fined 8,000 euro. The sum of 25,000 euro was also seized. The family that sold him the farmland claimed compensation of 208,000 euro, but this was not granted by the court.