In dozens of cases, the several families in Krefeld received money for around 90 children, even though they did not live in the city at all, the Rheinische Post reported, citing security sources. Accordingly, the damage to the state is in the millions of euros.
The authorities had tracked down the swindlers from Bulgaria and Romania because the police analyzed data from the youth and school authorities and from the local job center.
The mayor, the public prosecutor’s office and the family treasury were also involved in the investigation. The police checked the presence of the reported children based on the data and could not find them.
According to the report, the searches were carried out half a year ago, but are still being kept under wraps. The reasons for this are not known. The Interior Ministry confirmed the information: “There was a joint action by the police and the city of Krefeld in connection with child benefit payments. Children who were supposed to be there were not found.”
In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, families from south-east Europe are fraudulently drawing child benefit in the tens of millions, investigators estimated. “Child benefits are requested through a fake registration address. It disguises the fact that the children do not live in Germany but abroad,” a spokeswoman for the Duisburg public prosecutor’s office told the newspaper.
Just a few days ago, a Romanian woman was arrested at Düsseldorf airport. She is accused of having received 40 000 euros in child benefits, which she was not actually entitled to. In 2014, the woman is said to have applied for child benefits from the Duisburg family fund for her six children, stating the wrong address. Three years later it was dicovered that she had no permanent residence in Germany.
Legal child benefit payments abroad are also increasing. In the past year, these amounts had reached a new high of around 536 million euros. The Federal Employment Agency paid a total of 291 000 children, reported the Bild newspaper, citing the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Compared to 2017 , the total amount increased by a good 200 million euros. Most of the money will be transferred to Poland however. But the number of children in Romania who benefit from it is also increasing.