The former mayor of the West Flemish municipality of Staden is to appeal against his conviction for conflict of interest and misappropriation of funds. Last month Francesco Vanderjeugd (ex-Flemish liberal) was given a 1-year suspended prison sentence. The court found him guilty of having bought land that, due to him being Mayor, he knew that he would be able to sell at a big profit. Mr Vanderjeugd denies that he knew that the land he bought was earmarked for a future construction project.
Francesco Vanderjeugd was mayor of Staden from 2013 to 2024. He was just 24 when he became mayor and at the time was the youngest mayor in Belgium. He was no longer a candidate for office at the 2024 local elections after it emerged that he had shown a group of people in their 20s a film of himself having sex with a woman.
By then the prosecutor’s office had already started an investigation into suspected conflict of interest on the part of Mr Vanderjeugd. The case centred around land bought by Mr Vanderjeugd that he would have known would rise in value thanks to information he would have had at this disposal due to him being mayor.
This information would not have been public knowledge at the time he bought the land.
1-year suspended sentence
During the trial it was said that as mayor Mr Vanderjeugd “took part in meetings about the redevelopment of the area” where he bought the land.
"Those in public office should avoid any suspicion of conflict of interest. This shows a lack of a sense of standards”, the judge said.
In addition to a 1-year suspended prison sentence, the former mayor and former member of the Flemish Parliament was fined 24,000 euro and had his civil rights revoked for 10 years. 178,000 euro of funds belonging to Mr Vanderjeugd were confiscated by the court.
Appeal
After being convicted, Mr Vanderjeugd burst into tears. However, a month later he says that he is ready to fight back.
His lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge told VRT News that “He was completely devastated that he was wronged. He was labelled a fraudster and someone that had deliberately chose his own interests over those of the community. But that has not been the case and hence he has suffered. Now he has regained his spirit and we now intend to put our arguments before the Court of Appeal.”
The appeal could be heard as early in the autumn.