Seventeen people were detained on Thursday in a major investigation into social security fraud, the Brussels’ Labour Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.
The operation included 20 searches conducted in Brussels-Capital Region, Antwerp Province and Flemish Brabant. Around €15,000 in cash was found.
In its statement, the Labour Prosecutor's Office outlined that the criminal alliance had caused damages amounting to €1.5 million to Belgian social security. It did this by fraudulently granting individuals the status of independent workers, thereby obtaining illicit benefits.
According to the Office, some of the proceeds from the scam may have been transferred to bank accounts and invested in property in Bulgaria.
Police have frozen 105 accounts in Belgium. Requests for the seizure of property in Bulgaria and the blocking of beneficiary bank accounts involved in the transactions have also been issued.
The operation was led by the Federal Judicial Police (PJF) of Brussels, working closely with the National Institute for the Social Insurance of the Self-Employed (NISSE).
