Banks blacklisted their customers in a flash: 'I became a bitter bastard'

Banks and insurers use a “black list” to warn each other about fraudsters. Once you insist on that, you won't be able to go anywhere for a loan or mortgage for years. And to get off the list, you usually have to go to court. “People who have nothing in their wallets can shake it.”

Dossier: Fraud and Money Laundering

Author: Nick de Jager

Image: © FOLLOW THE MONEY

This piece in 1 minute

What's the news?

Banks and insurers work among themselves with a “black list” of people they suspect of fraud. The list is intended, among other things, to combat money laundering, but also includes the names of people who have little or nothing to blame.
According to critics, banks and insurers can “lightly criminalize” their customers via that list. They too easily attribute incongruous practices to “client fraud” in the hope of avoiding fines themselves. “Combating crime with half an eye on your own pockets,” says a lawyer who often acts for people who have been wrongly blacklisted.

Why is this important?

The consequences of an incorrect registration are huge: victims are usually no longer able to get a mortgage, loan or insurance.
Objecting is time-consuming and expensive and is therefore not for everyone.

This story is part of an ongoing research file.Fraud and Money Laundering

Willem Elsschot knew that cheese attracts 'the tragic' as early as the early 1930s, when he wrote Cheese. His main character, clerk Frans Laarmans, feels compelled to choose a profession with more social status: cheese dealer. However, he appears to have no talent — he barely knows how to sell anything and returns to his office job disillusioned. “The cheese tower has collapsed.” Yet Laarmans' sad demise is pale in contrast to that of Jan: a cheese dealer with an allergy to cheese products. Jan drives a Volkswagen bus from place to place with cheese for years, until his body starts protesting. First his back, later his lungs — and eventually it doesn't work anymore. Without knowing the cause, he reports incapacitated for work to Aegon, his insurer. But because Jan starts a service store more or less at the same time in a care home and does not have his administration in order yet, the insurer does not trust it.

Tractor pull

Aegon begins an investigation that will last twelve years and then concludes that the cheese trader lied. Jan loses his right to an insurance payment and ends up on a “black list” — the External Referral Register (EVR). As a result, other insurers and banks also see a red flag behind Jan's name. When his son tries to take out insurance for a car and a Trekkertrek race in the following years, it appears to be a problem. Both applications are rejected because the father is marked as a fraudster. But eventually, at the end of 2024, the court in The Hague ruled that Jan was wrongly accused and that his name does not belong on a blacklist. Court records show that banks and insurers more often tamper with these types of registrations.

Rapidly penalized

Lenders are legally obliged to take measures against fraud and crime. If they fail to do so or do so inadequately, they can be fined by the Financial Markets Authority (AFM) or De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), which is why they mention the names and date of birth of potentially criminal customers in the External Referral Register. If other banks and insurers want to know more about such a listing, they request information from the registering party. How many people are on this blacklist is unknown. The register is intended for people who have committed fraud or another serious offence and should prevent them from knocking on the door of one bank after a rejection. Whoever ends up in the register is severely crippled financially: it is difficult to get another mortgage, insurance or other financial product. The system works properly, says the Dutch Banking Association (NVB).), the interest group of financial institutions. But lawyers and lawyers are critical.

Fraud and Money Laundering

White-collar crime is ignored, even though it involves an absurd amount of money.

“Banks have preconceptions and quickly feel robbed,” says Rob Silvertand, a financial law lawyer who has a lot to do with EVR registrations. Lawyer Deepak Thakurdien only has to list a few files from his daily practice: an expat who was falsely accused of identity fraud; naive young people who lent their bank card with a PIN code and were robbed; a woman who claimed three cents too much covered by health insurance. They were all blacklisted, and they were all curtailed in their financial freedom for years.

A few tens too much

If people make a mistake, they deserve punishment, Thakurdien argues, but financial institutions generally have little sense of proportionality. “Banks are wearing double hats,” he says. “They're prosecutors because they're about punishment, and they're judges because they're about judgment. At what point does the bank look at an error from the accused's perspective? ' According to Thakurdien, employees of banks and insurers are not good at applying a “human measure”. “Such a person has studied, a nice job in a nice office building and probably doesn't fully understand that someone from a different background is declaring a few tens too much because he or she is trying to fill one gap with another. “That the relationship between customer and bank can quickly derail, is evident from the story of Jordi, who was wrongly in the External Referral Register for four years. The reason was a loan application to the Defam signed by him, an ABN Amro credit institution. The bank statements included income from a salary, which could not be true: Jordi was an independent entrepreneur in renting office space and received benefits under the Disability Provision Act for Young Disabled People (Wajong).

ConfUSED conversation

When Defam informed him by letter that he was suspected of fraud, Jordi picked up the phone — he had never heard of the company. In the conversation that followed, and where Follow the Money was able to listen to a recording, he and the employee talked completely past each other.“Hi, with Jordi, (..) You claim that we, or at least your rogue company, shall we say, suggests that we are fraud... 'The employee: “Oh, you're off to a great start. Our rogue company, yes. Continue, our rogue company claims that you committed fraud.”At the end, Jordi emphasized that he had “no idea” of the how and why of the suspicion. Nevertheless, the Defam employee blacklisted him.

When Jordi talked about identity fraud, the Defam promised additional investigation: 'The story now seems to be taking a different twist'

In a subsequent, quieter call, Jordi said he suspected he was a victim of identity fraud: his data was stolen in a hack and more 'crap' has come over him since then. This time, the employee promised an additional investigation, because “the story now seems to be taking a different turn”. Subsequently, the Defam did not speak from again. The blacklist registration remained in place and because the credit institution also filed a complaint, it came to a criminal case. More than three years later, Jordi was acquitted of fraud on appeal due to a lack of evidence. A few months later, the Defam removed its name from the EVR. The damage was extensive. His rental company went bankrupt, he received no subsidy for a new business in the healthcare sector, and he had to move to a smaller apartment. The stress and hopelessness affected his relationship and friendships. 'I became a bitter bastard. 'He demanded compensation from the Defam. In the resulting lawsuit, the bank continued to insist that Jordi was a scammer and not a victim of identity fraud — even though he was acquitted on appeal.

Four years after the start of the misery, the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court ruled that the Defam had no proof of the allegations and that the company should pay compensation to Jordi.

'Lightly criminalised'

Attorney Silvertand, not himself involved in this case, says he is “very happy” with Jordi's perseverance. But few people are going to fight, he sees. A lawsuit can easily cost thousands of euros. “The financial inequality between the bank and the customer is too great and the rules are complicated. People who have nothing in their wallets can shake it. '

“Banks do contravene, but they don't always try to find the truth sincerely”

According to the Dutch Banking Association, this is too short of a curve. She points out that victims can object in three ways: to the bank itself, “easily” via the Financial Services Complaints Institute (Kifid), or with a lawsuit. However, there is really no such sympathetic-sounding choice program, says lawyer Rebecca de Haan, specialized in civil law. She sees that lenders quickly suffer from tunnel vision in the event of a fraud suspicion. “Once health insurers, health offices or municipalities are on a certain track, they are difficult to dissuade from it. Then it comes down to proceedings. “Banks do interrogate, says lawyer Thakurdien, but they don't always try to find the truth sincerely. 'I've often seen them invite people for an interview. They then go to the bank very nervously, without legal assistance. On the spot, they are interrogated by three people. That is intimidating. They will then still receive the maximum sentence of eight years. “The Kifid writes on its website that it is “an expert and accessible complaints counter” for people with financial problems. However, it is only occasionally a complete removal from the External Referral Register, says a spokesperson. According to the Kifid, the registration is usually correct. The Complaints Institute does regularly shorten the duration of a registration.

High burden of proof

In contrast to the Kifid, the judge appears willing to completely erase blacklist registrations. Since the beginning of last year, there have been no rechtspraak.nl sixteen statements in EVR cases published. In no less than seven cases, the judge reversed the registration. The scope of the statements was often identical: it was usually right that banks and insurers rated someone's actions as suspicious. But before registering in the External Referral Register, it must be established that there was intentional deception. This requires a high burden of proof, judges said. In almost half of the cases, the banks left a mark too lightly.

'Ideally, more people go to court for compensation for the damage, then you'll get balance'

This shows, says lawyer Silvertand, that banks and insurers are 'fighting crime with half an eye on their own wallets'. He states that financial institutions have 'an incentive' to register people quickly because they themselves fear a fine from the AFM or DNB.If a bank claims that a customer has committed fraud, supervisors cannot attribute an error to the bank, he explains. “But that does mean that customers are being criminalized lightly.” Ideally, more people, like Jordi, would go to court and claim compensation, says Silvertand. “If there is an incentive on both sides, you have balance.” By the way, not all financial institutions are of bad will. Jan's son, the allergic cheese dealer, still got his insurances arranged. Jan's name will be removed from the External Referral Register. The man should indeed have informed Aegon about his new store, the court ruled. But should he be portrayed as a fraud? No, the court wrote. “The bar is high.”

Reactions

Compliance with the External Referral Register is monitored by the Personal Data Authority (APP). But it does not assess fraud allegations on substantive grounds. “What the AP does is see whether the financial institutions have sufficient ground and evidence to warn other institutions about the person concerned, given the circumstances of the specific case,” writes the Authority. Financial Markets Authority and De Nederlandsche Bank emphasize not having insight into the referral register at an individual level. The AFM only writes to intervene if “something goes structurally wrong” at financial institutions and DNB states that it only assesses banks “from a broad perspective”. “Based on our supervision, we have no signs that institutions are taking EVR registrations lightly,” says DNB.de ABN Amro says she does not want to comment as long as the matter between her credit institution Defam and Jordi has not been settled.