Former Kortrijk ships are on trial for cheating with reimbursement of expenses

The defendant denies that he cheated to secure an expense allowance as director of the Tieltse Bouwmaatschappij. The public prosecutor demanded a suspended sentence.

housing company

In November 2013, the Tielt social housing company decided to grant Lybeer a flat-rate allowance of 200 euros per month as a director on top of his salary. However, that decision was reversed by the regulator of the Flemish government, after which the Tieltse Bouwmaatschappij came under increased supervision.

Subsequently, during an audit in 2019, it turned out that Lybeer had received a monthly expense allowance of 300 euros since March 2015. The investigation showed that the board of directors had indeed taken that decision, but, remarkably enough, this was not mentioned in the report that was sent to the regulator.

Any interest

The Tieltse Bouwmaatschappij was initially fined 18,000 euros, but was not prosecuted. According to the civil parties and the Public Prosecution Service, it is clear that Lybeer himself has a lot on his mind. He appears as the author of the Word document in question, which was created on his computer.

In addition, it was noted that the defendant had the sole interest in deleting the sentence about the reimbursement of expenses. “In total it is about 18,000 euros, not a small amount,” said prosecutor Saskia Schepens.

Damages

The Tieltse Bouwmaatschappij claimed compensation of more than 45,000 euros. The defense asked for an acquittal across the board. Master Anke Platteau emphasized that the expense allowance was simply awarded by the board of directors. My client therefore had no interest in making a second version of the minutes.

In addition, it was noted that it cannot be proven who made the modified version, because Lybeer’s computer was also used by his employees. It is also unclear who ultimately provided the document to the regulator. The e-mail in question is not in the file. Lybeer himself therefore claims that he is the victim of a reckoning.

The judge will rule on May 10.