An offense of “promoting tax and social fraud” will appear in the 2024 finance bill presented next week to the Council of Ministers, Minister of Public Accounts Thomas Cazenave announced on Wednesday.
This decision follows in particular the broadcast, widely shared on Youtube, of a video in which a young man nicknamed “Mertel” claims to receive 1,800 euros net monthly income “without giving a damn” by accumulating various allowances, including an adult disability allowance obtained by a certificate of convenience thanks to a doctor whom he “manipulated”.
These people must be condemned “with the greatest firmness”, Mr. Cazenave said on Sud Radio.
In his video, the YouTuber seems to ask Internet users for 300 euros to show them how to imitate him by claiming an “invisible” disability. In passing he scratches “the moronic employees (…) hypocrites (…) who pay my allowances”.
On Tuesday, the Minister of Solidarity Aurore Berg reacted to
“In a few hours this individual was identified. If fraud is proven, proceedings will be immediately initiated and the aid wrongly received will be recovered,” she wrote.
According to her, “more than 32 million checks were carried out in 2022“driving detect 48,692 cases of fraud for an amount of 351.4 million euros.
“Our social model is too precious to be damaged: I will not let anything go,” she concluded.
The government has already announced that it wants the fight against social and tax fraud to bring in 1.5 billion euros per year by 2027.