Student grant fraud in Luxembourg: fines and suspended sentences for forged documents
Several students and parents have been convicted in Luxembourg for submitting falsified documents in applications for student financial aid (AideFi). Sentences range up to €3,000 in fines and six months in prison with a suspended sentence.
Student grant fraud in Luxembourg: fines and suspended sentences for forged documents
Luxembourg's district court has recently convicted several students and their parents of fraud and forgery in applications for student financial aid (AideFi). The sentences imposed range up to €3,000 in fines and six months in prison with a suspended sentence.
Luxembourg's financial aid is not limited to residents of the Grand Duchy. Children of cross-border workers and other students with close ties to the country may also be eligible, following rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2013.
In a first case, two Irish sisters residing in Luxembourg were prosecuted for forgery, use of forged documents and subsidy fraud. They had attached to their file a modified parental tax assessment: a 2023 document had been retroactively altered to appear as if it dated from 2024. One of the sisters explained to the judges that her parents were abroad and she did not realise that part of the grant could have been awarded without all the supporting documents. She was sentenced to €1,500 in fines, her sister to €1,200.
In a second case, a French mother and her son presented a forged certificate from the CAF, intended to prove that the student was not receiving any benefits in France. The deception was discovered when Luxembourg authorities verified the document with the CAF office in Marseille, which indicated that no file existed under the student's name. The mother, who eventually admitted the facts in court, was sentenced to six months in prison with a suspended sentence and €2,000 in fines. Her son was acquitted.
A third case involved a student from Metz. The certificate she had provided presented contradictions and an inconsistent barcode. After initially denying it, she confessed to having fabricated the document on a computer, citing her financial difficulties and processing delays at the French CAF. She received a fine of €3,000.
All judgements may be appealed within a period of 40 days.
Source: Luxembourg Times
Source: Luxembourg Times