After an unannounced check at home, Anja and her then 22-year-old daughter from Breda were suspected of benefit fraud. The municipality speaks of a ‘pleasant home visit’, but Anja’s daughter, who has a non-congenital brain injury, never got all the way again after the raid. Anja challenges the accusations at the court and is disappointed that the municipality shares details about the raid with the outside world. “They make it a success story, my family over the back.” The municipality acknowledges that mistakes have been made.
Anja’s case can be read in detail in the final report of the fraud project. The approach is called a ‘success’ and the invasion of Anja is cited as an example of this.
In September 2023, the Commission also reports in September 2023 from the SP that all home visits went ‘pleasantly’ and that ‘a number of inhabitants during the home visit has indicated that they are happy with the contact and the attention for their situation’.
Terrified
They are texts that Anja and her daughter Naomi still hurt, they themselves speak of a ‘heavily intimidating’ visit. Naomi was home alone that evening, she was terrified and called her mother in panic. In addition, according to Anja, there is nothing of the fraud feases, she started a lawsuit.
The home visit that Anja and her daughter were confronted with was part of an LSI project from the municipality of Breda. It took place one evening in May 2022. Anja (48) and Naomi (25) are fictitious names, their real names are known at Omroep Brabant.
What is an LSI project?
LSI stands for the national intervention team steering committee. Hereby data from different authorities are linked to each other to detect fraud. Privacy experts had previously had strong criticism of the approach, the tax authorities decided to withdraw and the municipality of Kerkrade pulled the plug out of their LSI project early because there is no legal basis.
Breda started their LSI project ‘Together in the Wijk’ to increase the quality of life in Breda Noordoost. The project has since been completed, there will be no follow -up.
‘Anonymous tip’
What is going on in Anja’s case? The Breda was suspected of receiving a benefit for a single person, while her daughter of Net 21 lived with her. She would also run a store with her ex-husband, with whom she would also live together. The authorities concluded the latter after an ‘anonymous tip’. Whose tip came is still unclear.
That evening in particular, officials from the municipality and the UWV visit the house. They report that Anja’s daughter is ‘working working in a nail salon at home’, her mother is not at home. After investigation, Anja is cut on her benefit, she has to repay part of it and is fined. Her daughter is also fined because of the work at home.
‘Practical example Fraud’
The raid is extensively reflected in the final report on the project, which will be published in June 2023. Under the name ‘Practical example Fraud’ you can read about the living situation of Anja, the alleged nail salon of her daughter and the close relationship with the neighbor, who is also her ex.
The Regional newspaper BN DeStem writes about the project and the raid in August 2023: “What can happen, if there is benefit fraud, an example shows,” it says. This is followed by the story of Anja including all the details.
Traceable
Anja hears via via about the article. Because there are so many details in it, people in her environment know that it is about her. And that she was caught on fraud with her daughter.
“Everywhere in that article is the word fraud, everyone who knows me knows that it is about me,” says an still excited Anja to Omroep Brabant. It hurts that her story is presented as a success, while according to her everything is wrong. Hence the step to court.
Accusation of the table
The case has since been thinned. The discovery that Anja’s ex would live in her, still proudly mentioned in the final report, is now off the table, her lawyer confirms.
As proof that Anja runs a store with him, the UWV came up with an old photo of Facebook. Her lawyer has ‘every confidence’ that little remains of this suspicion. Anja herself indicates that she was not paid. She occasionally helped her ex on a therapeutic basis: she was depressed and suicidal.
‘UWV tapped on fingers’
Another reproach is that Anja has not reported that her daughter became 21, so that her single benefit would be canceled. According to Anja this was known. Her lawyer confirms that the UWV got a ‘tap on the fingers’ during the court case, it would be an error in the system of the body.
The fine of 400 euros that Naomi received for her work was paid for by Anja. Reluctantly, but “I didn’t want her to have stress,” she says.
‘Don’t be so stupid’
What Anja hurts is the impact that the raid and the aftermath have had on her and her daughter. As a child, Naomi has sustained permanent brain injury and receives a benefit for young disabled people. She can’t study or work, taking care of nails at home is a hobby, according to Anja.
That the municipality calls the home visit ‘pleasant’. For example, Naomi would have been “not so stupid” by an inspector, and the atmosphere was intimidating. “I am still shocked when the garden fence suddenly opens,” she says. After the raid, she slept badly for months and her mental complaints got worse. Her mother also still suffers from the case.
Anja says that the UWV, one of the authorities that came by, had been aware of the situation of her and her daughter since 2018. “How can you come in like that?” In a letter to the alderman, she writes: “I was destroyed, but you have your success story, over the back of a torn family.”
Reaction of the municipality
The municipality of Breda told Omroep Brabant that it is still satisfied with the LSI project. In a reaction, a spokesperson mentions the ‘shorter lines’ that have arisen between different departments as success.
The municipality says that information about the raid has been shared: “If we look back on this, this would have been better to prevent traceability.” The fact that a judge is still considering the case of Anja and the listed ‘successes’ was not known to the municipality when the report was published.
Information request delayed
The ruling in the case of Anja and her daughter follows in April. Anja also wants to know exactly what details of her are shared, and with whom. Normally such a request takes two weeks, Anja has been waiting for four months, providing the data has already been postponed twice. “The list is so long,” she was recently told by telephone.
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