A GGD temporary worker who asked for a 100 euro deposit from people who had made an appointment for a corona test has been sentenced to 130 days in prison. “For financial gain, he has damaged trust in the GGD, an organization that is crucial during the corona crisis,” the court in Utrecht said.
The 26-year-old Rotterdammer S. wanted to earn ‘quick doenoe’ (slang for money) in September 2020, he told his girlfriend. And he didn’t just mean his salary as a temporary worker for a GGD call center. S. forwarded his calls and in the meantime searched the GGD systems for people who had just made an appointment for a corona test. He telephoned these people with the announcement that they still had to pay a deposit of 100 or 20 euros so that the GGD was sure that they would come.
gambling addiction
He then sent those people an email with a payment link. The email was sent from the address he created: [email protected]. Those who paid actually bought a credit card through a Belgian account that ended up with S.. He wanted to use that credit to gamble online. S. tried the trick with at least fourteen people, three of whom have been charged with him.
The case came to light because victims reported to the GGD and the service then saw that an employee opened hundreds of files that he did not need at all. Last month, the Public Prosecution Service demanded fifteen months in prison, five of which were conditional, against the Rotterdammer. “He could have helped fight the pandemic, but was trying to make financial gain out of it. His actions have damaged confidence in the GGD and the government,” the public prosecutor said at the time.
Telephone acquisition
S. also copied hundreds of GGD files to his own laptop. The Rotterdammer also worked in energy marketing and wanted to use the personal data as ‘leads’ for telephone acquisition. He shared some addresses in a Telegram group for marketing and sales employees to see if they wanted to buy his files.
It was also remarkable that several people who were called by S. to transfer a deposit were also called ten minutes later by someone posing as an employee of ING or Rabobank. They claimed to have seen a suspicious transaction and tried to get the victims to transfer thousands of euros for verification. That failed.
The GGD systems were completely open, many employees abused them
As a GGD employee, S. confessed to having approached people for a deposit. He regrets that. He denies having anything to do with subsequent scams as a fake bank employee. The Rotterdammer worked from home, there was hardly any control. “The GGD systems were completely open, a lot of employees abused them,” he said during the lawsuit in December. S. still works in telephone marketing.
GGD is crucial
The court condemns S. because he tried to defraud people as a GGD member. “With his actions on a large scale, the suspect seriously infringed on the privacy of the persons involved and thereby also damaged the trust of and in the GGD, while this organization plays a crucial role in protecting society and health during the corona crisis. keeping it running as much as possible”, the court writes. S. has “abused the powers entrusted to him and only had an eye for financial gain”.
But the court does not consider it proven that he was also involved in the attempted fraud as a bank employee. That is why his sentence is much lower: 130 days in prison, 85 of which are conditional. Because S. has already been in custody for 45 days, he does not have to go back to jail.
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