Flemish Owner Loses French Park to €2 Share Fraud Scheme

A Flemish businessman has lost his holiday park in southwestern France to a Dutch entrepreneur who allegedly sold the property to himself for just €2 through a backdated share transfer. The exclusive investigation by Het Laatste Nieuws reveals a complex fraud scheme that stripped Gert Corluy (59) of his valuable asset and exposed a pattern of alleged corporate deception across France.

A Dream Turned Nightmare

Twenty years ago, Gert Corluy moved from Schilde, Belgium, to France to pursue his dream of running a holiday park. He had set his sights on Étang Vallier, a stunning 45-hectare holiday domain in the forests of Brossac, in the Charente department of southwestern France. With his experience as a construction entrepreneur, Corluy significantly expanded the park, adding holiday cottages, a restaurant, a clubhouse with a snack bar, and a campsite. The investment transformed the local area, boosting tourism and making Étang Vallier a success story.

But expansion brought complications. Corluy decided to lease out parts of the park separately, leading to conflicts among tenants. “The clubhouse was rented out, as was the campsite,” he told HLN. “But then the problems began. They started competing with each other and arguing, which led to endless conflicts.” The camping operator eventually refused to pay rent, and by 2016, a frustrated Corluy put the park up for sale for €800,000.

The ‘Savior’ Arrives

That is when Joost Schouwink entered the picture. “He presented himself as the savior, the man who could resolve the poisoned situation,” Corluy recalled. Schouwink offered to take over the shares of the holiday park for €800,000 and resolve the conflict with the troublesome camping operator. To prove his financial credentials, he showed bank statements from a Dutch company at Rabobank showing €1.2 million available for investment. These documents later proved to be completely forged.

Schouwink convinced Corluy to appoint him as temporary manager, allowing him to take immediate legal action against the French camping operator while Corluy remained behind the scenes. The shares were placed in a Dutch limited partnership structure pending the sale.

The Discovery

Corluy began to suspect foul play when the promised purchase amount never arrived at the notary. “Then it began to dawn on me that I was possibly being scammed,” he said. His research into Schouwink’s background revealed a troubling history: a 2008 conviction by the Amsterdam court to two years imprisonment for fraud, money laundering, and large-scale deception. Schouwink had also left a trail of bankruptcies and unpaid suppliers in the Netherlands before moving to France in 2007, where he set up a web of shadow companies and received a banking ban.

When Corluy attempted to terminate the collaboration in autumn 2018, Schouwink produced documents showing the shares had already been sold to himself and his wife for the symbolic amount of €2 — €1 each. The contracts were backdated, meaning Corluy lost his company on paper and the authority to remove Schouwink.

A Legal Nightmare

What followed was an exhausting series of legal proceedings in both France and the Netherlands. “Schouwink crawled into the role of the victim and filed police complaints against me for alleged forgery,” Corluy said. “Meanwhile, he plundered the holiday park’s accounts for personal expenses. He paid for his wedding cake, wedding rings, and personal shopping with company money.”

Schouwink was convicted in September 2024 by the Court of Appeal in Bordeaux for misuse of corporate assets (abus de biens sociaux), receiving a two-year management ban. After years of litigation and €100,000 in legal fees, the Commercial Court of Angoulême annulled the illegal share transfer in April 2025, returning ownership to Corluy. Schouwink has appealed the decision, and the procedure remains ongoing.

The Same Modus Operandi

Corluy has made it his personal mission to expose Schouwink’s methods and warn other entrepreneurs. He discovered that the Dutch businessman had continued his practices elsewhere, using the exact same approach. In 2023, Schouwink attempted to gain control of Golf de Rimaison, a sprawling golf and castle estate in Brittany valued at €10-12 million.

Patrick O’Connor, one of the owners of the estate, confirmed to HLN the devastating impact of Schouwink’s activities. “He is an excellent fraudster,” O’Connor said. “People believe him. If he would just behave honestly, he could actually be a very good businessman. He came in with grand promises about investors and millions. But his real intention was to make the companies go bankrupt immediately and liquidate them, so there would be no more debts and he could resell them.”

O’Connor and his British business partner Jonathan Fay won their court case in January 2026, but Schouwink refuses to leave. “He is now a squatter on our golf course,” O’Connor lamented. Through a cunning construction, Schouwink set up a new company that quickly signed an unbreakable lease contract in his wife’s name. O’Connor expressed frustration at the passivity of local French authorities: “He knows exactly how the French administration works and how to play the game.”

Schouwink’s Defense

Contacted by HLN, Schouwink fiercely rejected the allegations, claiming that Corluy is the real fraudster. “Mr. Corluy misled chalet buyers because the permits were withdrawn,” he said. “The camping and restaurant tenants were ruined by him, he did not pay his employees and ignored municipal regulations.”

On the contested €2 share transfer, Schouwink insisted it was a legitimate rescue: “The company had already requested a payment deferral and had over €1 million in debts. My wife and I each took over the shares for €1, with all the debts.” He dismissed the court ruling that returned the shares to Corluy as meaningless, calling them “worthless shares of a bankrupt company that will be liquidated by the receiver anyway.”

Schouwink also downplayed his 2008 conviction as “failures and mistakes of a young, inexperienced entrepreneur,” claiming it was largely overturned on appeal. However, he provided no official documents to support this claim.

A Pattern of Corporate Predation

Corporate records from Pappers.fr confirm the complex corporate history of SARL EV BROSSAC, the company operating Étang Vallier. Created in 2003, the company had revenues ranging from €303,000 to €1.12 million between 2012 and 2015. It went through a sauvegarde (protection) procedure in 2017 and was ultimately liquidated in March 2021. Records show Schouwink served as manager from August 2018 to July 2020, with a provisional administrator appointed in January 2021.

Similarly, records for GOLF DE RIMAISON show the company was created on June 1, 2023, with just €1,000 in capital, with Joost Schouwink as President and Sophie Schouwink as Director General. The company has one registered legal dispute.

The Château de Rimaison, a 16th-century ruin in Bieuzy, Morbihan, has been a registered historic monument since 1925, with its golf course established in the 1990s.

What’s Next

The legal battle over Étang Vallier is not yet settled, as Schouwink’s appeal is still pending. The Golf de Rimaison dispute also continues, with a proceeding scheduled at the Tribunal de commerce de Lorient in May 2026. For Corluy, the fight has been as much about justice as about property. “I am actually more of a constructor than a developer,” he reflected, having spent years defending what he built.

The case highlights vulnerabilities in cross-border corporate transactions and the devastating impact of fraudulent share transfers on property owners. As O’Connor noted, the ability of individuals like Schouwink to exploit legal loopholes and administrative complexity poses a significant challenge for victims seeking recourse through the courts.