A court in the Limburg city of Hasselt has stentenced a 30-year-old woman from Balen (Antwerp Province) to an 18-month suspended prison sentence for theft from her employer.
The woman had put in bogus lottery winnings into the till of the shop where she worked, pocketing the money herself. She stole a total of 1,100 euro from the till in this way. The thefts took place between 9 and 16 November 2023. The prosecution said that the woman had fraudulently used IT material in order to steal from her employer. CCTV footage showed her taking money from the till of the shop where she worked.
The court weighed in heavily on the fact that she had abused her position as a temp that had been sent to work at the shop. The woman claimed that she committed the offences because she had relationship issues and financial problems. Although the woman had been scrapped from the National Population Register the police were able to trace her to the home of friend with whom she was hiding.
Previous convictions
In November 2022, the Leuven Criminal Court sentenced her to 1 year in prison for fraud. In March 2024, the Court of Appeal in Antwerp gave her to a 15-month suspended sentence for forgery. Two months later the same court sentenced her 6 months’ imprisonment with probation for fraud. Now the Hasselt Criminal Court has given her another suspended sentence.
A probation report on the woman says that since the theft she has divorced, does voluntary work and has a new job in her sights. The judge says she has turned a new corner in her life. The court ordered that the woman attend counselling for her psychosocial problems, find and hold down a job and get her documentation, finances and housing issues in order.