A self-employed home nurse from the West Flemish municipality of Houthulst has been arrested on suspicion of social security fraud. During a search of the woman’s home police seized cash, 17 luxury cars and other goods. VRT News souces say that the suspect is Stefanie Sander, a municipal councillor for the far-right party Vlaams Belang.
The woman’s arrest is part of wider investigation into home nurses that defraud the social security system by billing health mutuals for work that they haven’t done. Labour Auditor Filiep De Ketelaere told VRT News that “The investigation came about after it was noticed that sometimes health mutuals are billed for an awful lot of work. This begs the question of how a person would be able to do so much work in one day”.
The home nurse was detained on Monday during a search of her home. Her mother, her partner and a person that works for her were also detained. The Labour Auditor says that the amount defrauded could be as much as millions of euro.
The self-employed home nurse will be formally charged by a magistrate in Bruges (West Flanders) today (Tuesday 18 November). There it will be decided whether she will remain in custody. According to VRT News sources the suspect is Stefanie Sander. Ms Sander is a municipal councillor in Houthulst for the far-right party Vlaams Belang.