Roger De Clerck

Roger De Clerck (July 27, 1924 – October 23, 2015) was a Belgian entrepreneur and CEO of the Beaulieu textile group. An international business man, his family was ranked 15th place in a list of "richest Belgians". During his lifetime he was controversial due to a series of scandals where he and his company were accused of fiscal fraud.

Biography

De Clerck born in Wielsbeke, the second son of a flax farmer who owned a large farm, "Ter Lembeek" there. His two brothers became priests. He was a nephew of minister (father of politician Stefaan De Clerck) and the brother of Thérèse De Clerck, wife of , founder of Roularta.

In 1951, De Clerck married Anne-Marie Hanssens from Gullegem.

Roger De Clerck himself was suspected from forgery of documents, gang organisation and violation of the laws for venture taxes. In April 2014 it was revealed that a new research was started to clear out suspicions of whitewashing in a Luxembourgian venture. Business shares which belonged to a Libanese businessman were carried over to the De Clerck family.

Reputation

Despite his massive wealth and large company imperium De Clerck was often nicknamed "Boer Clerck" ("Farmer Clerck") in the media, because of his roots in the farming industry, his local dialect and his simple-minded behavior. He detested this nickname himself. Mikhail Gorbachev was invited too, but had to excuse himself because his wife, Raisa Gorbachev, was seriously ill. She would die that same year. De Clerck's son Jan was not invited because he had fallen into disgrace.

Death

De Clerck died in 2015 at the age of 91.