Pukkelpop organizer Chokri Mahassine under scrutiny for multi-million embezzlement
The Limburg (BE) public prosecutor’s office is opening an investigation into possible irregularities at various companies around Pukkelpop organizer Chokri Mahassine.
The investigation was started following an article in the satirical website ‘t Scheldt in which Mahassine is being accused of embezzlement of around 20 million euro (intended for social causes) and a conflict of interest. Due to this Flemish minister Hilde Crevits (CD&V) will stop all subsidies to Pukkelpop until the investigation has been completed.
Pukkelpop organizer Chokri Mahassine would have injected a financial reserve of several million euros that was intended for social causes into his own company. Next to this there would be a conflict of interest between the various companies behind the festival. The festival has grown from a non-profit organization into a network of companies, where the money would have ended up in the wrong place.
Pukkelpop is an annual Belgian music festival that takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium, in mid- to late August. It is one of the largest music festivals in Belgium, with an attendance of 180,000 over the course of the event in 2009. Its 2020 and 2021 editions did not take place due to COVID-19. There were no automatic refunds for tickets purchased for the canceled 2020 and 2021 edition.
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