Tax office investigating organized benefits fraud from Bulgaria
The Tax Authority’s investigative department FIOD has launched an investigation into possible organized benefits fraud from Bulgaria. Reports from several government organizations to the tax office’s Benefits Department prompted the investigation, State Secretary Aukje de Vries (Benefits) informed parliament.
The reports raised suspicions of possible widespread fraud in an organized context, De Vries said. People “abused benefits” by false identity or address registrations in the Personal Records Database (BRP) and misusing DigiDs, the State Secretary said. “These often concern people from abroad, specifically from Bulgaria.”
One of the reports came from Logius, the service that manages digital government services. The service raised concerns when it noticed many different DigiD log-ins from a few IP addresses. It involves almost 2,000 unique citizen registration numbers. De Vries said that the Benefits Department had already flagged most of these users and halted their benefits before the Logius report, “but part of the advance had already been provided.”
The Benefits Department also received reports about “step-by-step plans on social media about ways to wrongly apply for benefits while not living in the Netherlands” and intermediaries helping with this, De Vries said. And two municipalities reported incorrect registrations and suspected false rental contracts.
This is not the first criminal investigation into large-scale benefits fraud from Bulgaria. Over a decade ago, the Dutch authorities uncovered a gang that encouraged Bulgarians to register in the Netherlands, sign up for benefits, and then return to Bulgaria. The fraud case cost the Dutch government millions of euros and led to stricter rules and a tougher attitude from the Tax Authority.
The intensified fraud hunt ultimately led to the benefits scandal, in which the Tax Authority unjustly accused thousands of parents of fraud and made them repay their childcare allowance, leaving many in financial ruin.
