Ministry files charges against officials over benefits affair

The Ministry of Finance has filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office (OM) for possible crimes including “professional discrimination” in the infamous benefits affair. The Public Prosecution Service will look at the work of two fraud teams and the management of the Supplements Department between 2013 and 2017.
ANPMay 19, 2020, 1:33 PM
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State Secretaries Alexandra van Huffelen (Finance) and Tamara van Ark (Social Affairs and Employment) speak to the press about the benefits affair following the presentation of the Donner Commission's final report.ANP image
The report comes on the advice of external criminal lawyer Hendrik Jan Biemond, who investigated whether the ministry is obliged to file a report because of the actions of the teams. The fact that Finance does that is' drastic ', says Secretary of State Alexandra van Huffelen (Allowances). “I realize that this declaration has a major impact on the affected parents and the employees of the tax authorities. But Mr. Biemond's advice is clear: it's important that the Public Prosecutor's Office looks at this.”
In addition to professional discrimination, it involves' gagging ', an offence in office where an official knowingly falsely claims money. The harsh fraud approach that the tax authorities used a few years ago meant that many hundreds of parents who received childcare allowance were unfairly treated as fraudsters. As a result, some of the victims ran into major financial problems. Then-Secretary of State Menno Snel acted over the affair at the end of last year.
Whether individual officials will run into trouble is not yet clear. “In his advice, Biemond emphasizes that his advice says nothing about the punishability of the behavior of specific people,” writes the ministry.

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