Paul Vanden Boeynants
Paul Vanden Boeynants (politician, fraudster) | |
---|---|
In 1966 | |
Born | 1919-05-22 Forest, Belgium |
Died | 2001-01-09 (Age 81) Aalst, Belgium |
Nationality | Belgian |
Party | Humanist Democratic Centre |
Paul Vanden Boeynants was a politician who was Prime Minister of Belgium.
Contents
Career
His chef de cabinet was Le Cercle member, Nicholas de Kerchove.
Fraud
He was convicted in 1986 of fraud and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years' probation.[1] This prevented him from pursuing mayoral aspirations in Brussels. He underwent a political rehabilitation during the early 1990s.
Kidnapping
Vanden Boeynants was kidnapped on 14 January 1989, reportedly by members of the Haemers criminal gang.[2] Three days later, the criminals published a note in the leading Brussels newspaper Le Soir, demanding 30 million Belgian francs in ransom. Vanden Boeynants was released unharmed a month later, on 13 February, when an undisclosed ransom was paid to the perpetrators. Patrick Haemers, the head of the gang, later committed suicide in prison,[3] whereas two members of his gang managed to escape from the St-Gillis Prison in 1993.
References
- ↑ "In memoriam", De Standaard, 9 January 2001
- ↑ Dick Leonard (16 January 2001) Paul Vanden Boeynants. The Independent, Retrieved 3 April 2011
- ↑ Death sentence for gangsters. The Independent, 30 January 1994, Retrieved 3 April 2011