Civil servant in The Hague suspected of embezzling thousands of euros

An employee of the municipality in The Hague may have embezzled thousands of euros. The money came from the budget accounts of people in debt assistance. These often involved people who had already died. The official is said to have used the money, among other things, to pay off his own debts.

The alleged fraud was first discovered at the beginning of 2023. “Unusual financial changes” were spotted at the administration of the Department of Budget Guidance. The suspected employee allegedly transferred money from the budget accounts of people to the budget accounts of others. Money from these accounts was also transferred to third parties.

The Hague estimates that a total of 28,000 euros was embezzled during the fraud, with 6,000 euros of this “not benefitting the clients.” The municipality reported the crime to the Internal Investigations Department. It is currently not known how that investigation is going.

The municipal council was confidentially informed of the possible fraud in 2023. The secrecy has now been lifted, and the information was made public on Wednesday. The Hague has said to have taken measures to prevent this ever happening again. The municipality would not elaborate more as this is an individual case.

The Hague was given permission by the district court to fire the man at the end of 2023. It was made clear during the case that the man had used the money to pay off his wife’s debts. The court felt that the “boundary between unconsciously making mistakes and the conscious act of making illegal payments has been significantly exceeded.”