The allegations of social benefits fraud in the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht will be discussed on Wednesday in the Federal Parliament, while the Brussels Labour Court has also opened an investigation into the case.
The allegations of social benefits fraud at the Public Centre for Social Welfare (CPAS) in Anderlecht will be discussed today by federal MPs in the Chamber Committee on Social Affairs, a parliamentary body.
The hearings have been organised following revelations from a VRT's investigative programme Pano. In the report, two journalists revealed irregularities at the CPAS in Anderlecht after they granted them with thousands of euros in social support, despite neither qualifying for it.
Additionally, VRT spoke to eight social workers who described the issues at CPAS; There is an insufficient number of CPAS workers to deal with all pending cases, with each social worker in Anderlecht being responsible on average for 200 pending cases.
Labour investigation
Yesterday, the Brussels Labour Court launched an investigation into the benefit fraud allegations in Anderlecht, confirming the information first reported by De Morgen. The Court's spokesperson declined to comment further "in the interest of the investigation," the Belga News Agency reported.
In addition to the overworked system, suspicions of fraud in the approval of CPAS applications have not been ruled out. Approval of applications at CPAS are determined by a special committee which consists of local politicians.
The Minister for Social Integration, Karine Lalieux, the two Pano reporters, members of the CPAS Federation, the Directors of the Ministry for Social Integration, and the economist Ivan van de Cloot, are expected at the hearing.
CPAS is a public social service that provides social assistance to citizens, including financial support to those without minimum income.
