A Ghent sweet seller – known for participating in the 'war of the noses'– has been found guilty of committing fraud during the bankruptcy procedure of his business.
Carl Demeestere (61), a vendor of of Ghent's traditional sweet 'neuzekes' or "little noses", became known for the "war of the noses" – a bitter battle between Demeester and competing sweet seller Younes Benzaza.
The two men went to court in 2019 after Demeestere directed a slew of racist statements at Benzaza in a video that went viral. Demeestere was fined €1,600 and also had to pay €1,100 to Beneza.
But after this initial brush with the law, Demeestere ran into financial difficulties when the pandemic hit, incurring debts of €108,000. He was again taken to court and received a one-year suspended prison sentence and a seven-year professional ban (which was reduced to five years on appeal).
His creditors accused him of fraud, something that his lawyer denied. "He was careless! This cannot be excused, but there was never any fraudulent intent. He never personally enriched himself or hid funds. The administrative handling could have been better, but he also had a lot of bad luck," his lawyer argued.
The sweets are typical of Ghent. Credit: Belga
The court also criticised Demeestere for not paying his creditors. "His incompetence or carelessness does not justify wilfully and systematically neglecting to settle these debts and does not exempt the defendant from his criminal responsibility."
After the bankruptcy, Demeestere moved from Ghent to Koksijde to sell neuzekes. He is a trained chef who studied at Ter Duinen and participated in the TV show ‘Komen Eten’ a few years ago, where he met an Oostduinkerke shrimp fisherman.
He had numerous plans to connect Ghent, the city of neuzekes, with Koksijde, the seaside pearl of shrimps. Demeestere now lives in Veurne and works in the hospitality industry. He is currently adhering to the professional ban.
