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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.
Tax and Customs Administration intervened so harshly that businesses went bankrupt; now the cabinet is lifting the confidentiality
Many businesses went bankrupt due to the Tax and Customs Administration's actions during the benefits scandal. Affected entrepreneurs claim this was unjustified. To uncover the truth, secret files are now being opened.