Almost €20 million in tax fraud uncovered

An official working at the Tax Authorities managed to embezzle 19.5 million euros last year. He was able to do so due to the failing control systems of both the tax department and Rabobank, the Telegraaf reports based on an investigation by the tax investigation service FIOD. The 52 year old Egon D. transferred the millions of euros first to the account of a hotel manager and Duiven. This friend then transferred the money to his fugitive brother-in-law's bank accounts in Turkey. The fraud department at Rabobank only realized that something was wrong a week later. But by then it was too late - the brother-in-law had already bought a million euros in gold bars and turned 1.3 million into cash. According to the Telegraaf, D. first circumvented two of the Tax Authority's controls with excuses. The fraud was subsequently also not detected by the control systems of Rabobank and the treasury.