‘Renting chalets in black’, destroying documents and not filing tax returns; Peter Gillis is suspected of ‘large-scale tax fraud’. The public prosecutor therefore demanded 1.5 years in prison on Tuesday, of which six months are conditional, and almost 600,000 euros in fines against the campsite owner and reality star. “To this day, it is a mess at Oostappengroep, despite warnings since the beginning of the century.”
“It concerns large-scale tax fraud at Oosttappengroep,” the public prosecutor begins her argument on Tuesday in the court in Den Bosch. According to her, chalets were ‘rented for black money’ at eight holiday parks, including those in Ommel, Kaatsheuvel and Valkenswaard.
Emails and conversations
Peter Gillis listens to it all quietly while his hands rest on his chest in a kind of prayer position. Every now and then he looks at his lawyer and raises his shoulders. Behind him are his girlfriend Wendy and sons Mark and Ruud. Next to him is daughter Inge, who is a co-suspect.
“Peter, his daughter and ex-wife have done everything they can to conceal this ‘black rental’. They did this by destroying documents and manipulating the reservation system. That ‘black rental’ had to be paid in cash and with that cash money staff were in turn paid in black.” According to the justice department, Peter Gillis had the largest role.
E-mails from 2014 and conversations with employees and park managers show that Peter Gillis engaged in ‘black rental’, the officer says. The money was collected by Peter or his son Mark, or taken by park managers to the head office where Peter’s ex-wife worked. “The black rental was not registered, I kept track of that on a piece of paper, but Peter tore it up after counting the money,” reads one of the statements.
READ ALSO: Peter Gillis allegedly tore up receipts: ‘I am not a scammer’
More fraud
In addition, the night registers are incomplete, which are documents that state who stays at the parks overnight. And the tax return for 2017 is also incomplete and the one for 2018 was never submitted. “He has been reminded of this several times by his accountant and tax authorities.”
Furthermore, according to the public prosecutor, it appears that the registration of foreign employees was incomplete. “They worked more hours than they were paid according to the registration. A paper reality has been deliberately created that does not correspond to real reality.”
Prison sentence
Justice demands a prison sentence of one year and a six-month conditional sentence against Peter Gillis if he makes the mistake again. If it is up to the justice system, his daughter Inge must perform 240 hours of community service. She does not have to go to prison for the time being, if she makes the same mistake again, she will face a two-year sentence.
A fine of 5,000 euros is still required against each holiday park for each year that the administration was not in order. This amounts to a total of 200,000 euros. And according to justice, Oostappenhroep would have to pay a fine of 365,000 euros.
“We have improved the administration. We are now with a large accounting firm,” Gillis told the court. According to Gillis, ten to twelve million euros in turnover were taken away last year because parks are closed due to all the fuss surrounding him and his parks.
The case will continue until February 13, after which a verdict will be announced.