Magistrates in the West Flemish city of Bruges have ruled that a home nurse accused of having defrauded the social security system no longer has to wear an electronic tag. The Labour Auditor's Office can appeal to get the ruling overturned.
Court orders removal of home nurse accused of multi-million-euro fraud’s electronic tag
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Stefanie Sander (42) from Houthulst, in West Flanders was arrested on 17 November last year. Property searches found 11 luxury cars, 6 expensive motorcycles luxury items, other goods and cash.
The Labour Auditor's Office says that Ms Sander defrauded the social security system on a huge scale by submitting claims for work that she had never carried out. The extent of the fraud is reported to run into several million euro.
Ms Sander was released from prison, where she had been on remand, at the beginning of this year and fitted with an electronic tag. On Friday morning, her lawyer, Kris Vincke, successfully requested that his client’s electronic tag be removed.
Appeal
The West Flemish section of the Ghent Labour Audit Office can lodge appeal against the magistrates’ decision. In that case, the Indictment Chamber have to rule on the appeal within the next 2 weeks. Meanwhile, Ms Sander would have to continue to wear the tag.
If there is no appeal, Ms Sander will have to adhere to a series of bail conditions during the coming months. For example, she is not allowed to have contact with her former patients or with other people involved in the case.
She is also banned from taking to the media and no longer allowed to work as an self-employed home nurse.