Public prosecutor requests 15-month suspended prison sentence for former mayor accused of conflict of interest

The long-awaited trial of the former mayor and MP Francesco Vanderjeugd got under way on Tuesday. The prosecutor’s office has requested that the liberal politician be given a 15-month suspended sentence, a fine and the confiscation of any profits that he might have made from the real estate transactions that are the subject of the alleged conflict of interest. Mr Vanderjeugd is alleged to have used prior knowledge and the powers he had as mayor to buy houses and land. He later sold the property at a profit. Mr Vanderjeugd is alleged to have possibily known that permits would be forthcoming for projects in which he had been bought property.

Mr Vanderjeugd has always claimed his innocence and said that he did everything by the book. He hopes to be acquitted and will give his side of the story during the trial.  

Francesco Vanderjeugd was mayor of Staden from 2013 to 2024. He combined the job of mayor with running his hairdressing business.  When he became mayor of Staden in 2013 aged 24 he was the youngest mayor in the country. 

In July 2024, just a few months before the municipal elections, Mr Vanderjeugd decided to withdraw as a candidate and no longer stand for election. He had fallen into disrepute after a home-made sex video became public. Mr Vanderjeugd had shown the video to a group of people in their 20s but later apologised for what he had done. A few days later, he said that he was retiring from municipal politics in Staden, and would no longer be on the liberal list for the elections.

Mr Vanderjeugd was a member of the Flemish Parliament for the liberals until 2019. He failed to get elected at the 2019 regional elections. He was also a candidate the leadership of the Flemish liberal party  Open Vld in 2020, he but withdrew because his political mentor, the former mayor of Ostend Bart Tommelein, also stood as a leadership candidate.