Brussels Lawyer’s Double Life: Disability Claims in Belgium, Thriving Career in Morocco

It all started with denunciations from a former spouse to the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI). He discovered that a Brussels woman registered with the Moroccan bar since 2003 has been practicing the profession of lawyer there for over 20 years. The "real domicile" of her entire family is in Morocco. She would only stay in Belgium occasionally, for periods of about fifteen days, mainly for medical or administrative reasons. However, she claimed to be incapable of working in Belgium since 2016, which allowed her to benefit from increased health insurance coverage at a possibly undue rate and a disability premium, and also to have the usufruct of social housing in the capital, reports La Dernière Heure. The children of this lawyer had never been enrolled in school in Belgium, according to the administration of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

The president of the liberal party who is fighting "against social benefit fraud and undeclared work" reacted to this information. "I want to bring this to light to show that our social system is a sieve," fumes Georges-Louis Bouchez. "The abuses are much more numerous than one might imagine." According to him, this does not only concern Morocco. "There are frauds of this type in different countries. We currently have a completely deficient control system that is costing the community millions of euros," he continues. He is determined to provide a strong political response at the federal level but also at the international level. "We will ensure that, based on these revelations, the federal government strengthens data controls," promises the leader of the liberals.

He will add: "The cadastre of social benefits will be fundamental. We will condition a series of agreements on criteria for the exchange of information between states".