Leendert Stolk admits child benefit fraud in Dublin

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Leendert Stolk pleaded guilty to 22 sample counts of wrongfully claiming social welfare and four counts of using a false instrument. The proceedings at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court were reported on 20 January 2020.

The court heard that Stolk fraudulently used a school stamp while claiming child benefit for his two children between 2011 and 2018. He admitted falsely claiming a further €18,000 in child benefit and was already serving a four-year prison sentence for welfare fraud during the same period.

Judge Patricia Ryan ordered the fresh charges to be taken into consideration, leaving his existing sentence unchanged. Including the child benefit claims, Stolk had falsely claimed more than €244,000 over seven years.