News report | 15-01-2026 | 14:41
Today, a 63-year-old man appeared before the Rotterdam court. He is suspected of fraudulently submitting childcare allowance applications to the Tax and Customs Administrations Benefits Office on behalf of hundreds of people, mostly Bulgarians, who were not entitled to them. In total, the office is believed to have wrongly paid out at least 4.5 million euros between October 2021 and July 2024. The suspect acted as a facilitator and submitted all fraudulent applications, receiving a percentage of the paid amounts. The Public Prosecution Service demands a five-year prison sentence against him.
Modus operandi
The investigation started after signals that many different childcare allowance applications were made from the suspects IP addresses. The Financial Intelligence Unit also reported suspicious transactions on the suspects account. An investigation by the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, led by the Functional Public Prosecutors Office, showed that the suspect consistently used the same method. Applicants came to the suspect via word of mouth (mostly in a Bulgarian network). He then created a DigiD with their Citizen Service Number (BSN) and retroactively applied for the allowances. During a search of the suspects home, the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service found lists with more than a thousand different BSNs. He likely fabricated information about childcare locations and hourly rates for the applications. The Tax and Customs Administration then paid advances to the applicants. When it later became clear that the applications were incorrect, letters were sent to reclaim the amounts. The suspect allegedly advised recipients to ignore the letters.
The suspect is believed to have fraudulently submitted applications for childcare allowance for at least 412 different BSNs. At least 4.5 million euros were paid out. The suspect likely earned an average of over 1,000 euros per paid advance, pocketing over 330,000 euros.
Refined method
At the hearing, the public prosecutor emphasized the refined method: This case involves sophisticated fraud where the weak spots in the system were deliberately targeted with the sole aim of making a lot of money. Todays suspect was the mastermind, the main initiator, the one who knew the system inside out and knew how to skillfully obtain the highest possible allowances retroactively. He defrauded the Dutch State of many millions and enriched himself significantly. Without the suspect, the applicants would not have been able to commit the fraud. They often did not even know exactly what the suspect applied for on their behalf. According to the public prosecutor, the suspects motive was solely self-enrichment. When determining the sentence, the Public Prosecution Service takes into account various facts and circumstances, including that the suspect does not have a clean criminal record. The Public Prosecution Service demands an unconditional prison sentence of five years, with credit for time served, and demands that the unlawfully obtained benefit of over 330,000 euros be repaid to the state by him.