Belgian Developer Hendrik Danneels: Criminal Tax-Fraud and Money-Laundering Case Shadowing Mylecke NV and the Insolvent Leas Pavilion Development in Folkestone

For years, Belgian property developer Hendrik Danneels (pictured) has preferred to operate in the shadows. Belgian business press portrays him as a low-profile coastal real-estate investor, who “stays under the media radar”, quietly building a portfolio through his Sea Coast group and his holding company Mylecke NV. That same Mylecke NV later became the controlling shareholder of Leas Pavilion Development Ltd – the special-purpose vehicle behind Folkestone’s stalled seafront scheme – and now sits at the heart of the company’s insolvency and the unfinished “eyesore” towers on The Leas.

Today his name is tied to two very different but equally controversial stories:

• a Belgian criminal case concerning tax fraud and money laundering, resolved through an out-of-court settlement with prosecutors; and

• the collapse of the Leas Pavilion Development Ltd project in Folkestone, which has left two stranded concrete towers and a Grade II listed site in limbo.

This article sets out what is known from public records and press reports – and how the same developer sits at the centre of both the Belgian case and the failed English seafront scheme.

The Belgian Criminal Case: Tax Fraud, Money Laundering & An Out Of Court Deal

In late 2023, several Flemish outlets reported that a long-running criminal investigation into tax fraud and money laundering involving Nieuwpoort developers Alain Cloet and Hendrik Danneels (pictured) had come to a negotiated end.

A summary on news-aggregator DeKrantenKoppen, relaying a piece from national newspaper De Standaard, states that “the real-estate duo Alain Cloet and Hendrik Danneels” reached a “minnelijke schikking” – an out-of-court settlement – with the public prosecutor in “a criminal case concerning tax fraud and money laundering”.

Regional business site Made-in West-Vlaanderen gives the same core picture: two prominent Nieuwpoort developers, operating via Sea Coast and related companies, resolving a criminal tax-fraud case by paying a settlement instead of proceeding to full trial.

Earlier background reporting on the pair notes that Cloet and Danneels controlled Sea Coast, had delivered scores of coastal projects and were the subject of a judicial investigation into fraud and money laundering.

Crucially, there is no public record of a conviction against Danneels in that case. The settlement – a tool widely used in Belgian financial crime cases – means prosecutors dropped the proceedings in exchange for a substantial payment, without a court verdict on guilt.

That still matters. It confirms that, at a minimum:

• Belgian prosecutors believed there was a serious criminal case to answer in relation to tax fraud and money laundering.

• Cloet and Danneels chose to resolve that case financially rather than contest it in open court.

For investors and public authorities assessing future projects backed by the same developer, this history is a significant part of the risk picture.

Offshore Footprints: Paradise Papers & Belmor Limited

The Belgian criminal case is not the only time Danneels’ name appears in sensitive financial records.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ Offshore Leaks database – which hosts the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers data – lists HENDRIK DANNEELS as an officer linked to Belmor Limited, a Malta-registered company, in the Paradise Papers – Malta corporate registry dataset. He is recorded as director, judicial representative and legal representative of Belmor Limited from its incorporation in June 2008.

Local watchdog site ShepwayVox picked up that link in its investigation into the Leas Pavilion scheme, noting that “Hendrik Danneels… is named in the Paradise Papers” in connection with Belmor Limited in Malta.

Being named in the Paradise Papers is not itself proof of illegality – many offshore entities have legitimate uses. But when set alongside:

• a criminal tax-fraud and money-laundering case settled with Belgian prosecutors, and

• the later collapse of a high-profile UK development,

it contributes to a picture of a developer comfortable with complex, opaque financial structures and aggressive tax planning.

Who Is Hendrik Daneels? Sea Coast, Life Tree & Mylecke NV

Belgian business media portray Danneels as a low-profile but ambitious figure in real estate:

• De Rijkste Belgen describes him as a property broker who prefers to stay “under the media radar”, operating from Nieuwpoort through his Sea Coast office and developing coastal projects.

• Corporate databases show him as a key figure in companies such as Sea Coast Bel NV, a real-estate and project developer based at Albert I-laan 98 in Nieuwpoort, where he is listed as a permanent representative and managing director.

  Other reports link him to the Life Tree Group, behind large schemes including a 90-metre residential tower near Brussels, underlining his role as a significant project developer rather than a small-scale landlord.

• Mylecke NV, the company that will later appear at the centre of the Leas Pavilion story, is repeatedly described in Belgian sources as Danneels’ holding company – and explicitly distinguished from the similarly-named vehicle used by investor Marc Coucke.

An investment prospectus filed with Belgian crowdfunding platform Ecco Nova adds another piece to the puzzle. In finance terms for a real-estate project, it lists:

• a personal joint and several guarantee from Hendrik Danneels for between €1 million and €1.5 million; and

• a joint and several co-debtor commitment from Mylecke NV, guaranteeing obligations owed to the finance provider.

That document illustrates the way Danneels and Mylecke NV are used together: he provides personal guarantees, and the holding company sits as a corporate guarantor and shareholder across multiple developments – including, as we shall see, Leas Pavilion Development Ltd in Folkestone.

Enter Folkestone: Mylecke NV and Leas Pavilion Development Ltd

The connection to the English south coast begins in 2020, when Leas Pavilion Development Ltd (LPD Ltd) is incorporated in the UK to deliver a 91-flat, nine-storey scheme above the historic Leas Pavilion in Folkestone.

Companies House records show that:

• LPD Ltd was set up in November 2020 to undertake real-estate activities.

• In February 2021, Mylecke NV was appointed as a director and registered as a person with significant control, holding more than 25% of the shares and voting rights.

• Over time, other investors – notably Olivier Daelemans’ Gustavia group – came and went, but by late 2024 Mylecke NV was described by both KentOnline and ShepwayVox as the controlling shareholder of the company.

ShepwayVox’s piece “Leas Pavilion and the connection to offshore companies” spells out the link clearly:

“According to Companies House, it is Mylecke NV based in Belgium who now hold the fate of the development of the Leas Pavilion in their hands.

There are three directors in Mylecke NV. They are: Hendrik Danneels, Stephanie Danneels, Marie Danneels.” 

In other words, the same Hendrik Danneels involved in the Belgian tax-fraud case and named in the Paradise Papers sits, via his holding company Mylecke NV, at the top of the ownership chain for the Leas Pavilion development.

The Collapse In Folkestone: Debt Receivership & Eyesore Towers

The Leas Pavilion scheme promised to restore the Edwardian pavilion frontage and build 91 luxury sea-view apartments above it, with some units marketed at close to £1 million.

But behind glossy brochures and artist’s impressions, LPD Ltd’s finances deteriorated rapidly:

• By 2021 the company already had net liabilities of £1.68m and long-term creditors over £7.6m.

• By 2022, ShepwayVox’s analysis of its accounts shows short-term creditors jumping to £6.52m, long-term creditors to £10.64m and net liabilities more than doubling to £4.46m – a 166% increase in a single year.

The site was heavily mortgaged. Initial funding from Octopus Real Estate in Luxembourg was later replaced by a secured loan from Tab Acm Ltd, which ultimately appointed receivers over the company in October 2024.

By 2025, the project company was in receivership, the crane had been removed and only two stark stair cores remained on The Leas – earning the nickname “eyesore towers” in local coverage.

ShepwayVox’s verdict on who bears responsibility is blunt:

“Ultimately, the responsibility for LPD Ltd’s collapse lies with Mylecke NV; one of whose directors is named in the Paradise Papers.” 

Mylecke NV itself has publicly insisted that the situation was not of its own making. When the entire Leas Pavilion development was quietly listed for sale on Rightmove, the company told KentOnline it was in “complete shock” and claimed to have funding agreements in place – a claim ShepwayVox described as “difficult to reconcile with the facts” given LPD Ltd’s debt and insolvency status.

Patterns & Questions: What Daneel’s Belgian Record Means For Folkestone

Taken together, the Belgian and British stories raise uncomfortable questions about how public authorities, lenders and regulators scrutinise those behind large development schemes.

From Belgium, the public record shows that:

• Danneels built a substantial development business through Sea Coast, Life Tree and related companies.

• He was a central figure in a criminal case concerning tax fraud and money laundering, which ended in an out-of-court settlement with prosecutors rather than a public verdict.

• He appears in the Paradise Papers as an officer of Belmor Limited in Malta, underlining his use of offshore structures.

From Folkestone, the picture is of:

• A UK project vehicle, Leas Pavilion Development Ltd, that became heavily indebted and ultimately insolvent.

• Mylecke NV – controlled by Danneels and his family – acting as both director and person with significant control over that vehicle.

• A high-profile seafront site left dominated by unfinished towers, with residents and buyers facing uncertainty and, in some cases, financial loss.

None of this allows an easy headline like “tax fraudster wrecks Folkestone project” – that would go beyond the evidence. There is no conviction on record in Belgium, only a settlement in a serious tax-fraud case; and in the UK, insolvency does not automatically imply illegality.

But it is fair, and important, to say that:

• a developer who has settled a criminal tax-fraud and money-laundering case,

• who is named in a major offshore leaks database, and

• whose holding company has presided over the collapse of a flagship public-facing project

should attract far more scrutiny than he appears to have faced to date.

For Folkestone, the Leas Pavilion fiasco is a very local story of debt, planning risk and a heritage site left in limbo. For regulators and investors, it is also a case study in the risks of relying on complex, cross-border structures fronted by low-profile developers with sensitive histories.

And at the centre of both sits one name: Hendrik Danneels – (pictured).

The Shepway Vox Team

The Velvet Voices Of Voxatiousness