A Belgian court has convicted the former finance director of Sint-Truiden (a small city in the Flemish province of Limburg) of embezzlement and computer fraud, sentencing him to 26 months in prison with suspension and a €4,000 fine. He and a subordinate financial manager, who received an 18-month suspended sentence, secretly arranged two loans totalling €65,000 from public funds to the late former mayor Jef Cleeren — without the knowledge of local politicians or other staff — to help Cleeren pay off his gambling-addicted son's debts. An audit by Audit Vlaanderen uncovered the scheme, which involved concealing the transactions under a false name in the city's accounts; Cleeren died in December 2021 with €37,500 still outstanding, and the city has been awarded a symbolic €1 in damages pending a full civil settlement.