A 53-year-old man from Valthermond has been sentenced to 120 hours of community service and six months suspended prison sentence for benefit fraud. The sentence is considerably lower than the requirement of the Public Prosecution Service (OM): 15 months in prison, of which 5 months are conditional.
The judge took into account the passage of time and the poor health of the man. In addition, his partner had previously been sentenced to 120 hours of community service for her role. De Mondker failed to inform the municipality about his pub in the garden. He also traded in scrap cars or tinkered with them. An anonymous report in early 2021 brought the matter to light.
The fact that the man, in his own words, did not earn anything from this does not detract from that, the judge said. The tenners that guests put in the pot of the ‘quiet cut’ in his garden were spent on drinks and food. The trade in scrap cars and the repairs to them benefited the local cross club, according to the man. The man and his girlfriend had more than 200 license plates in their name during that period.
They are monetary activities, the judge said. That means you normally get money for these activities. And that must always be reported to the paying agency.
The man from the municipality received a letter about this. He did not listen to this. The man committed fraud from 2009 and, according to the calculation, received an extra 219,000 euros in addition to his benefit. A payment arrangement has been made with the municipality for the reimbursement.