Flemish Deputy Accused of Misusing Over €1.3 Million in Subsidies, Report Finds

The report states that since 2012, the elected official has received exactly 1,363,622 euros in Flemish subsidies, reports Het Laatste Nieuws. Members of her family have also benefited from these subsidies. They received allowances in the form of mileage allowances and volunteer allowances. "Sometimes the expenses were submitted in a very clumsy way," said Finance Minister Matthias Diependaele.

"For example, a relative of Ms. El Kaouakibi kept the accounts of Let’s Go Urban. He sent a meal voucher invoice, but printed on letterhead of the company where this family member actually worked and with which the non-profit organization had nothing to do," the minister explained. "The same amounts were always paid to family members without any note or explanation. But these people had nothing to do with the non-profit association," he added.

The Flemish Inspectorate of Finance points to a "systematic and symptomatic abuse of Flemish subsidy flows". It criticizes the way the subsidies were paid. The subsidies were often paid too easily and the decisions were "too vaguely worded and without commitment".

For more than a year, the Flemish deputy of Moroccan origin, Sihame El Kaouakibi, has been absent from Parliament, due to illness. Her official sick leave, since October 2020, has been extended until the end of November. This extended leave has prompted the Flemish Parliament to adopt new provisions limiting the income of elected officials on long-term sick leave.