Knowledgebase
AT LEAST 4,791 CHILDREN FROM 2,888 FAMILIES PLACED OUT OF HOME - MOST DID NOT RETURN
"The accumulation of government interventions—first through unjustified recovery demands and subsequently through out-of-home placements—has caused additional suffering for young people. Conversations with these young people have made it clear that the consequences are still felt on a daily basis." This is stated in the parliamentary letter sent to the House of Representatives on September 25, 2026, by State Secretary for Justice and Security Claudia van Bruggen, State Secretary for Benefits Restoration Sandra Palmen, and State Secretary for Long-term Care, Youth and Sport Mirjam Sterk.
Project 1043 - an important Tax and Customs Administration-wide project that had a strong connection to the Combiteam Approach Facilitators (CAF)
Project 1043 was a significant, Tax and Customs Administration-wide project that had a strong relationship with the Combiteam Approach Facilitators (CAF), although they were two separate entities. Below are the key findings regarding Project 1043: 1. Purpose and Focus of Project 1043 Project code 1043 was a Tax and Customs Administration project aimed at preventing systemic fraud in income tax (IH) returns. The system was designed to select high-risk and potentially risky returns based on risk selection. Systemic fraud is defined as the deliberate submission of incorrect information in a tax return to receive more money or pay less tax. Project 1043 also focused on investigating tax advisors. 2. Relationship and Collaboration with the CAF team Although Project 1043 and the CAF team were not organizationally the same, there was collaboration between the two entities from the start of the CAF. The collaboration and division of tasks were as follows: Project 1043 focused on handling high-risk returns and potential systemic fraud in income tax. The CAF team, on the other hand, focused on the facilitator (intermediary) involved, with whose help or intervention these fraudulent returns had been created and/or submitted. Members of the CAF team also performed work for Project 1043. CAF investigations sometimes also led to investigations under the 1043 label. The CAF included tax service providers from the tax consultant database and from project 1043 for visits, often in the form of a pilot. In CAF files, a high degree of collaboration between the CAF team and 'Project 1043' emerged. For example, CAF file 26 received a signal from an old 'project 1043' list regarding presumably incorrect income tax returns submitted by a facilitator.
CRIMINAL COMPLAINT FILED WITH THE PUBLIC PROSECUTION SERVICE REGARDING CRIMINAL CONDUCT BY ATTORNEY MERIJN VAN LEEUWEN
On August 26, 2026, attorney Merijn van Leeuwen filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor at the District Public Prosecutor's Office in The Hague on behalf of the Stichting Herstel Ongekend Onrecht (Foundation for Redress of Unprecedented Injustice) and the Belangenvereniging Gedupeerde Ondernemers Toeslagen/FSV/MKB (Association for Affected Entrepreneurs in the Benefits/FSV/SME sector). The complaint calls for an investigation into potentially criminal acts in violation of the Constitution, specifically the withholding of information vital to parents, entrepreneurs, and their representatives (including journalists, lawyers, and judges). The Benefits department was not the only entity involved in harming families. The hunt for fraud targeting entrepreneurs, which included the use of a population management tool to select parents, is a criminal offense.
277,813 SME AUDIT FILES DELETED FROM DATA VAULT
On behalf of the cabinet, Eelco Eerenberg expressed regret for the delay in disclosing the existence of millions of documents held in a data vault that had remained hidden from parliamentary inquiry committees. In 2019, millions of documents were set aside because they would not pass a GDPR assessment. These included source documents for risk selection, fraud lists, collaboration spaces, FIOD information, and CAF cases. A few days later, a second data vault came to light, containing the contents of the mailboxes of over a thousand Tax and Customs Administration employees, their personal workspaces, and collaboration data. This was related to the criminal complaint filed by the Public Prosecution Service in 2020. Nothing was done with this information.
Cooperation - Together Everyone Achieves More
The CAF Team was established in 2013. The Benefits department focused on collaboration. Teamwork. Together Everyone Achieves More. The consequences were disastrous. Fraud suspicions were shared with various collaborative partnerships such as the RIEC and LIEC, LSI, municipalities, and other enforcement agencies.
THE FRAUD HUNT HAS BEGUN FOR ENTREPRENEURS
The benefits scandal is merely a side issue. The main issue is that entrepreneurs were deliberately targeted by the Tax and Customs Administration's methods. Fraud investigations by the FIOD began around the year 2000. Entrepreneurs suspected of fraud were 'spied on in the field.' After years of investigation, it has been established that municipalities (and later the entire government and various private parties) worked together to bring down entrepreneurs. Collaboration was the magic word. The Freedom of Information (Woo) request regarding the deleted document 'The short slap in the face of the system fraudster' shows that entrepreneurs were suspected of committing systematic fraud. This phenomenon became a pattern. Not only were entrepreneurs in the childcare sector targeted by CAF cases, but many other sectors—such as tax consultancy, garages, beauty salons, healthcare businesses, and hair salons—also became victims. The majority of these businesses were selected based on the origin of the owner and/or their clients. Municipalities also placed businesses on the FSV list. All sorts of organizations were able to do this. The consequences were far-reaching. Tips were presented as absolute truth. What, then, justifies the 'destruction' of these businesses?
Entrepreneurs, the forgotten group in the benefits scandal
Lost home, burnout, and business bankrupt State Secretary Sandra Palmen wants to accelerate the recovery operation for childcare benefit victims by re-embracing the Laurentien method. Good news for the average victim. But entrepreneurs are still left with significant losses.