Patricia Joan Remak-Boerenstam (born July 16, 1965, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

) is a former

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

se descent. As a member of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

(VVD) she was a

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

('stadsdeel

wethouder In the Netherlands, the municipal executive (, ) is the executive board of a municipality. It plays a central role in municipal politics in the Netherlands, similar to the communal college in Belgium. It consists of the mayor and the members of t ...

') of the ward ('

stadsdeel A stadsdeel (; pl. ''stadsdelen''; lit. ''city part'') is the name used for urban or municipality districts in some of the larger municipalities of the Netherlands. Amsterdam calls 7 of its 8 ''deelgemeenten'' ''stadsdeel''. They form a level of ...

') Amsterdam Southeast from 1997 to 1998, a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1998 to 2002 and a member of the

States-Provincial The provincial council (, PS), also known as the States Provincial, is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has ...

of the province of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

from 2003 to 2007 (from 2005 as an independent). In 2008 she was convicted of

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

Career

Remak studied

tax law Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a ...

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

. Before she became an MP, she was a ward alderman in the ward Amsterdam south east. Her portfolio contained welfare, sport and finances. In the House of Representatives, her portfolio included finances (taxes), development aid and state expenditure. When she left the House of Representatives, Remak joined the VVD group in the States-Provincial of the province of North Holland in 2003. In June 2005 she left the VVD group, after major political differences' and continued as an independent member of the States-Provincial.

Fraud

Remak was convicted of

benefit fraud Benefit fraud is a form of welfare fraud as found within the system of government benefits paid to individuals by the welfare state in the United Kingdom. Definition of benefit fraud The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) define benefit fr ...

in January 2007. She received benefits (''wachtgeld'') from her former job as MP, although she was not entitled to do so since she had a substantial income from her work as a member of States-Provincial and tax inspector. She failed to inform the UWV (the government body responsible for benefits) about her income, as is required by law. Some days before this conviction became public, she resigned as member of States-Provincial. Remak was first convicted to 1 year imprisonment (3 months on probation). She

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

ed the ruling. One year later, the Amsterdam court convicted Remak to 6 months imprisonment (3 months on probation) and 240 hours of

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

in January 2008. The province of North Holland launched an investigation into her period as member of States-Provincial and filed a complaint for fraud and forgery. These allegations were connected to payments of almost 28,000 euro to a party assistant who also worked for her husband's company.

Wikipedia

In June 2008 Remak demanded that the Dutch-language version of Wikipedia (and the blog ''

GeenStijl.nl GeenStijl is a Dutch blog founded on 10 April 2003. The logo is a pink coloured Crown (headgear), crown within a circle. In the Dutch language, the term "geen stijl" (literal translation: no style) is used to describe an act by a person or orga ...

'') remove the information on her conviction for fraud. She based her demand on Dutch

privacy law Privacy law is the body of law that deals with the regulating, storing, and using of personally identifiable information, personal healthcare information, and financial information of individuals, which can be Personally identifiable information ...

. Wikipedia initially complied with her wishes; the information was restored in June 2008 on legal advice.

References

External links

Parlement.com biography

"Remak stapt uit VVD-fractie"
''Provincie Noord-Holland'', June 10, 2005.
"Voormalig VVD-Kamerlid de cel in voor fraude"
''

de Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...

'', January 12, 2007.
"Remak stapt op als statenlid"
''

RTV Noord-Holland RTV may refer to: Broadcasting * RTV (Bangladeshi TV channel), a satellite television channel * RTV (Indonesian TV network), an Indonesian television network * RTV-7, a Dutch television network with programming from the Dutch Caribbean * RTV NH, ...

'', January 9, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Remak, Patricia 1965 births Living people Aldermen of Amsterdam Dutch civil servants Dutch fraudsters 21st-century Dutch criminals Dutch people of the Moravian Church Dutch people of Surinamese descent Dutch women in politics Dutch women jurists Leiden University alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Provincial Council of North Holland Municipal councillors of Amsterdam Criminals from Amsterdam People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Politicians convicted of fraud Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni